Countryside to the Citystreet
by Wits and the Ditz
Summary: While on a business trip, Neji meet's Tenten, the spunky counter girl from Tyzuka Inn. 2 years later, they meet again under different circumstances. Can love bloom between these two?
1. Special Guest

**Chapter 1- Special Guest**

"This town deinitely needs some improvement," Neji said to himslef. Neji Hyuuga was driving around, looking for a place to stay. Due to some unknown reason, Hyuuga Interprise sent him to make a business deal in this small town in the country. What was worse is that it rained alot...and Neji did not like the rain.

_I could be at my penthouse in Tokyo right now. Damn Hiashi for sending me here all by myself!_ Neji thought. Then he saw it. A small inn that looked decent enough. He parked his car and got out of it, only to be greeted by rain drops. He walked to his trunk and grabbed his luggage, hurrying to the inn where it was dry inside.

Neji walked to the front desk where he saw a young girl with two buns._ Weird hairstyle,_ he thought.

"Hi sir and welcome to the Tyzuka Inn! I'm Tenten, here at your service!" Tenten said energetically even though it was late at night. She was wearing a uniform with a nametag on it.

"Whatever, can I just get a room? And quick?" Neji said inpolitely and unpatiently.

"Yes, but you don't have to be such a jackass about it," Tenten replied.

"Tenten, is it? Aren't you a bit young to be saying such rude words?" Neji asked.

"I'm sixteen," she said.

"Which still makes you a child in my eyes," he said.

"What?! You can't be that much older than me. How old are you anyways? Twenty?" Tenten asked.

"No, I'm nineteen," he answered.

"Ha!" she said, pointing a finger at him.

"Where's the manager so I can complain for bad service?" Neji asked.

"You're looking at her. My family owns this place, so I like to think myself as the unofficial boss," Tenten said.

"Look miss, I just need a room so I can sleep comfortably. Tomorrow I have an important meeting and-" Neji said, getting cut off.

"What kind of meeting? Is it illegal? I bet it's illegal. I think you do some black marketing on the DL," Tenten said.

"You have one crazy imagination. I don't like imagination, among other things," Neji stated.

"You're such a pessimest, you know that?" Tenten said, crossing her arms.

"Hn, like I care. Now give me a damn room this instant!" Neji said, pounding on the counter. _Why is this girl so difficult? And annoying too!_

"Fine, but only because you look rich and we need the money. So, what's your name?" Tenten asked, typing on the computer.

"Neji Hyuuga."

"Never heard of you," Tenten lied. _Oh shit! He's a Hyuuga! I just backtalked to a Hyuuga!_ she thought.

_How dense is she that she doesn't even know how famous us Hyuugas are? If she were like any normal girl, she'd be all over me by now, _Neji thought.

"Well Neji," Tenten said, showing no respect by calling him by his first name," here's your key. You'll be in room 48. Enjoy your stay here at Tyzuka Inn."

"Don't I need to pay you?" Neji asked.

"Not until you're ready to leave. It's $75 a night by the way. And breakfast is served promptly at 7:00," Tenten informed hum.

"Okay. I'd say thanks, but I don't think you deserve it," he said as he walked upstairs to his room.

"You're not welcome!" Tenten shouted.

"Tenten, try to keep it down. Some people are sleeping," Mr. Tyzuka said as he came in.

"Sorry dad. Did you get the eggs?" she asked.

"Yeah. Five dozen like your mom said. Shouldn't you be in bed as well? You got school tomorrow young lady," he said. He was tall, graying a bit, but still in good shape.

"Fine. Oh, did I tell you? We have a Hyuuga staying here tonight!" Tenten said.

"Really? A Hyuuga you say? When did he arrive?" he asked.

"Just a few minutes ago. Must be horrible traveling in this weather...and all alone."

"You were nice to him, right?" Mr. Tyzuka asked.

"Define nice," Tenten said.

"Tenten..." he said,

"I was a bit sassy with him, that's all," she answered.

"I guess that's not too bad."

"And I called him a jackass as well," Tenten added.

"Will you ever learn to not disrespect our guests?" Mr.Tyzuka said.

"Good night daddy," she said, walking away and leaving the question unanswered.

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The next morning Neji woke up, took a quick shower, and put on his business suit. He looked at the time and grabbed his suitcase, heading downstairs to the dining room. There were many tables, most of them already occupied by a family or couple. Neji chose one by the corner all by himself.

He saw Tenten come over and snickered. She still had her hair in two buns and she wore an apron that said "KISS THE CHEF."

"Your hairstyle, it reminds me of a panda. Except a panda is cuter than you. Oh, and nice apron," Neji said as Tenten came to his table. She looked appalled at his remark.

"Wh-What?! I know you did not just say that! I only went here to take your order and this is what I get! An insult!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Tenten, honey, you're causing a show again," her mom said as she wiped the table nearby. She looked like an older version of Tenten, minus the buns.

"Sorry. I'll try to control myself next time," Tenten said.

"Next time? Does she do this all the time?" Neji asked Mrs. Tyzuka.

"Unfortunately yes," she answered.

"You know, I'm still here! I can hear what you're saying!" Tenten said.

"Why don't you take Mr.Hyuuga's order while I make more coffee?" Mrs. Tyzuka said as she walked to the kitchen.

"What would you like Neji?" Tenten asked through gritted teeth, She took out her notepad and pen from her apron pocket.

"Two eggs, scrambled, and a hashbrown," Neji said. Tenten wrote that down, smiling as she calculated a plan to get back at him.

"Okie-dokie. And I assume you want coffee as well?" she said, still smiling.

"You change your attitude quite fast. Are you bipolar?" he said, astonished that she was acting nice to him. _Maybe it's this country air that's making Tenten act weird._

"No," she said, leaving him to serve other guests. A few minutes later she came back with his breakfast. Neji stopped reading the newspaper to starte eating his food. He was about to grab the ketchup bottle for his hashbrowns when Tenten beat him to it.

"Why don't I do that for you?" she said, squeezing the bottle until it squirted ketchup...on Neji's shirt. He opened his mouth in shock.

"Ooo, is that expensive?" Tenten asked innocently.

"It was," he answered, using a napkin to blot it off.

"Let me help!" Tenten said eagerly.

"Wait-" Neji said, but too late. Tenten grabbed the napkin and wiped it on the stain, making it bigger.

"You just made it worse!" he said

"If anyone asks, just say it's a blood stain that you got from fighting a sumo wrestler. You'll definitely get macho points for that," Tenten said._ My plan worked out perfectly!_

"I don't want macho points! All I want is a clean suit!" Neji yelled.

"Why don't I get you more coffee? Coffee always calms me down," Tenten said, running to the kitchen. She came back quickly with a coffee pot. "Here," she said, "accidentally" pouring it on Neji's pants.

"HOT! HOT! HOT!" he shouted, getting up from his seat. He was jumping up and down, holding on to his private parts. Tenten laughed, falling to the floor.

"You think this is funny?" Neji said. By now everyone was staring at him like he was some sort of lunatic.

"Would you look at the time? I should really be getting to school now. Bye everyone!" Tenten said, running towards the front door and leaving.

"Sir, please forgive my daughter for her actions. You see, every week she picks a guest to annoy. And well, this week it's you," Mrs. Tyzuka explained.

"I see. Does Tenten treat all her 'special' guests as nice as she treats me?" Neji said sarcastically.

"No. She must really hate you," Mrs. Tyzuka said.

"Hn. Just my luck," he said.

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"Ah, Mr. Hyuuga, so nice to see you! I wasn't expecting you so soon," said. Mr.Yutaka. He was a real-estate guy who was going to show Neji some land he could but. Then the hired constructors would then build the Destiny Mall **(crappy name, we know, but bear with us) **that was owned by Hyuuga Interprise.

"So where's the land you wanted to show me?" Neji asked, already in a bad mood thanks to Tenten.

"Just get in my car and I'll take you there," Mr.Yutaka said.

"I'll just follow you in my car," Neji said. He didn't trust anyone and leaving his car alone would be stupid.

"If you insist," Mr. Yutaka said, going outside and getting in his car. Neji did the same and followed him once he started to drive.

When they arrived, Neji got out of his car, stepping on a puddle. "Ah, my shoe! It's all wet!" Neji said, looking at Mr.Yutaka like he was to blame.

"I warned you that our town gets lots of puddles after a rainstorm like last night," he said.

"No you didn't," Neji said, taking off his shoe to get rid of all the water.

"I thought it was obvious. Anyways, what do you think of the land? Isn't it big enough? It's eleven acres to be exact," Mr.Yutaka said.

"I guess it'll work. How much?" Neji askaed.

"Well, for you Mr.Hyuuga, it's three million dollars,"Yutaka replied.

"Done," Neji answered. That was the cheapest deal he ever made.

-----------------------------------------

"A Destiny Mall will be coming soon," Tenten said, reading the sign she saw. She wasn't much of a shopping girl, but she was excited. She ran all the way to the inn, splashing on puddles along the way.

"Mom! Dad! Did you see? They're gonna build a mall. Here!" Tenten said, entering the inn from the back. She took off her backpack and placed her nametag on her unifrom shirt.

"Really? Well, that's good since the nearest mall is twenty miles away," Tenten's mom said from the living room. She came over to where Tenten was and gasped. "Tenten, you're all wet!"

"I know. I was jumping on the puddles," she said, biting an apple.

"You're not working at the front desk looking like that," she said.

"But mom, I always work with the looks God gave me," Tenten answered, walking to the front desk. Her mom trailed after her.

"That's not what I meant. Why don't you change?" her mom asked.

"My attitude? Don't think so."

"I meant your clothes."

"Why didn't you say so from the beginning?" Tenten said, walking to her room which was in the back of the inn. She got out of her school unifrom and put on her back-up one. "Do I look presentable now?" she asked, stepping out of her room.

"Yes," Mrs.Tyzuka responded. Tenten sighed in relief and sat down on the stool behind the counter.

Two hours passed and business was really slow, so Tenten decided to play games on the computer. Then she remembered her math homework that she had to do.

"Um...let's see, if I factor that...then divide by the square root..." Tenten muttered to herself, working on a REALLY difficult equation.

"You're doing it wrong," Neji said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Where'd you come from?" Tenten asked, looking up.

"I've been here for about ten minutes watching you trying to solve that problem," he answered. "I don't know why you don't get it, it's easy."

"If it's so easy, then why don't you solve it?" Tenten asked.

"I'm not going to do your homework for you!" Neji said.

"Fine. I don't need you anyways. I'll prove to you that I'm smart enough to solve this problem," Tenten said.

"This I gotta see," he said.

Tenten grabbed a new piece of paper and started all over. Neji moved behind her, looking over her shoulder.

"That's wrong," Neji pointed out, smirking. Tenten was frustrated by now.

_I knew I should've payed more attention in class. But I won't give up, not in front of Neji,_ Tenten thought.

Neji was so close to Tenten that he could smell her hair. He breathed in her scent. _She smells nice. Like strawberries. I wonder what kind of shampoo she uses._

"There! The answer is six!" Tenten exclaimed, turning around to face Neji. She didn't know that he was right behind her, so their noses were touching. A faint blush was on her cheeks.

"Ahem," a guest said. Neji and Tenten jumped a bit and seperated from each other.

"Y-Yes?" Tenten asked, trying to compose herself.

"I need more bath towels," he said, eyeing the two of them. Neji just stood there, crossing his arms.

"Right," Tenten said, getting some towels from the back room. "Here you go."

"Thanks," he said, leaving.

"Uh, Neji?" Tenten asked awkwardly.

"Yeah?" Neji questioned.

"What are you doing here anyways? You're not supposed to be back here! This is for employees only! Now get!" Tenten shouted, pushing him out.

"Geez, you try to socialize with someone and they get angry at you," Neji said.

"Socializing? But I thought that you didn't do socializing?" Tenten said.

"I don't. But this town is boring and you're the only person I know who is remotely interesting."

"I'm interesting all of a sudden?"

"Did I say interesting? I meant annoying. Thank you for catching me on that," Neji said.

"I don't appreciate your sarcasm by the way. Don't you have something better to do?" Tenten asked.

"No. Tomorrow I'm seeing contractors though," he answered.

"Ooo, for what?" Tenten asked.

"So I can tell them where I- wait, why am I telling you this?" Neji said, walking away.

"Hey wait! Our conversation ain't over yet! Come back here!" Tenten yelled.

"I don't get you Tenten. A minute ago you told me to leave and now you're saying to come back," Neji said.

"Well, it's rude to leave someone talking to themselves. Now, is the answer six or not?" Tenten asked.

"It's not," Nej replied.

"Argh, not again! This time for sure I'll get it right," she said. Neji watched in annoyance as Tenten messed up for the third time.

"Here let me do it. This is how you solve it," Neji said, taking the pencil away from her hand. It really bugged him to see someone not understand something that he found so easy.

"There. Do you get it now?"

"Wow! You must be super smart!" Tenten said astonished that he finished it quickly when it took her almost a half hour.

"Well, I did graduate top of my class," Neji said.

"Whoa, I keep forgetting how old you are. I'm barely a sophmore and you've been out of high school for a year now." Tenten said.

"I'm not that old," Neji said in defense.

"What ever you say grandpa," Tenten laughed.

"Okay, can we stopwith the grandpa jokes? They're not that funny," Neji said.

"You know what Neji?" Tenten asked.

"What?" he said.

"I think this is the longest conversation we've had," she commented.

"I guess. Hey Tenten, aren't you a little intimidated of talking to a Hyuuga?" Neji asked.

"No. Why would I be intimidated? Sure you're a Hyuuga, but that doesn't mean you're better than me or anyone else. And if I should feel intimidated, it would be because of your eyes," she said.

"My eyes are...unusual," he said.

"I'm hungry. Are you hungry? Let's get something to eat," Tenten said, changing the subject. She dragged Neji to the back of the kitchen and started to open a cupboard. She took out two boxes of Easy Mac.

"Are you in the mood for macaroni and cheese?" Tenten asked.

"Macaroni and cheese? What's that?" Neji asked bluntly.

"Are you serious? You've never had mac n' cheese before?" she asked.

"No. My chef only prepared me gourmet food," Neji answered.

"Dang! You missed out on a lot!" she said.

"Is mac n' cheese good?" he asked.

"It's delicious! Wait until you try it," Tenten said. Ten minutes later and the food was ready. "C'mon try it!"

Neji brought the fork to his mouth and took a bite of the macaroni and cheese. "It's...mmmm...," he said, taking another bite. And another.

"Whoa, take it easy. You still need to breathe," Tenten said, eating some herself.

"I never knew how good it would taste," Neji said. "And you- you're such a great cook!"

"Oh, it came from...um sure!" she said._ 'A compliment is a compliment, no matter the circumstances'_ Tenten thought.

"Tenten, have you seen- Oh Mr.Hyuuga! What are you doing here?" Mr.Tyzuka said, surprised.

"What does it look like he's doing dad? He's eating," Tenten said since Neji was gulping down his food.

I can tell," he said, staring at Neji in astonishment. "Rich people sure can eat alot. Damn, did I say that out loud? Uh, no offense Mr. Hyuuga."

"None taken," Neji answered. "And please, can you just call me Neji. Mr. Hyuuga reminds me of my uncle." Tenten's dad nodded.

"So, what did you want dad?" Tenten asked.

"Oh, right. Have you seen my screwdriver? I've seemed to misplace it...again."

"I think it's in one of the bathrooms. You had to stop working on the car because one of the guests clogged the toilet-" she said.

"Tenten..." Mr. Tyzuka said, trying to stop her from babbling embarrassing stories of the past.

"...with a heavy dose of you-know-what. If you ask me, she should of laid off the chili. But no, she just had to get seconds. Then you had to unplug it, and I think you left it there," Tenten finished. Neji's left eye twitched.

"I'll be going then," Mr. Tyzuka said, leaving the kitchen.

"Don't you just feel like eating chili all of a sudden?" Tenten asked.

"No," Neji said. He didn't really know what chili was, but after today he definitely was never going to eat it.

------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Neji jeard a knock on the door as he was busy putting on his jacket. "Come in," he said, irritated a bit.

"Hi Neji! Just came in to make your bed, if that's cool with you," Tenten said, entering his room. It was extremely clean, even for a guy's standards.

"Fine.Whatever," Neji said, grabbing his wallet from the desk. _Damn, I'm gonna be late! I've never been late. This never happens to me,_ he thought.

Tenten started laughing all of a sudden, making Neji turn around to look at her. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing. It's just that you sleep in the middle of the bed instead of to one side," Tenten said, pointing to the pillows.

"So? I still don't get why you were laughing," Neji said.

"It's just that I sleep like that too. We have something in common. Weird," she said.

"Yeah," Neji agreed. Then he looked at his watch. _Shit! I gotta go,_ he thought. He left, leaving Tenten all by herself in his room. Once she finished making his bed, she thought it'd be interesting to look around.

_Um, let's see, where's his underwear drawer? I just gotta know if wears boxers or briefs. But first things first, what kind of conditioner does he use on that long, silky (I've never actually touched it, but it looks silky) hair of his? _Tenten thought as she walked to his bathroom.

She picked up the conditioner bottle and read it. "Loreal. Because you're worth it. Are you kidding me? How gay is that??!" she said. "Wait, what was I looking for again? Oh yeah, his underwear!"

Tenten kept opening drawers until she hit the jackpot, grabbing a pair of boxers. "Oh thank god he's a boxers guy! For a minure there, I thought my gaydar was going whack!" Tenten exclaimed. "Oh, what's today again? Argh, it's Friday! I totally forgot I have school!" With that she threw the boxers on the ground and dashed out of Neji's room.

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After a long day of business, Neji went back to his room to relax a little. That is until he noticed that a pair at his boxers were on the floor. He picked it up and stared at it.

"What the hell were these doing sown there? That's kinda creepy. Someone's been spying on me...are there cameras in here?" Neji said to himself, looking at the corners of the walls.

He had years of experience with people who were obsessive fans or stalkers. _Damn my sexiness. Damn my parents for having good genes,_ Neji thought. He chose to ignore this incident for the time being. Instead, he began packing, for he was to leave tomorrow in the morning.

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Tenten loved Satudays. There was np school that day of course. But also, she didn't have to work the counter. Saturdays and Sundays were he days off. Her parents hired someone else for that day, the same person who was in charge while she was at school.

"Hey Ryo! How ya doin'?" Tenten asked the counter guy. She always talked to him for a few minutes before hanging out with her friends.

"Hello Tenten. I'm good, thank you. So where are you going this weekend?" Ryo asked. He was a good looking, h-o-t, HOT! guy. He was at least 24. Tenten liked to flirt with him once in a while, even if he did have a girlfriend.

"To the movies. We're watching that new action movie starring Jackie Chan. How are Megumi and you doing?"

"We broke up."

"Really! Uh- I mean, already?" Tenten said, recovering from her little outburst.

"I was just kidding. Anyways I talked to Neji Hyuuga the other day. That man is so conceited and selfish," Ryo said.

"Yeah, but he's not that bad," Tenten said, surprised she was sorta defending him. Ryo raised his eyebrows at her. "Neji Hyuuga wears boxers!" Tenten blurted out_. Whoa, where did that come_ _from?_ she thought.

Ryo raised his hands in defeat. "You know what, I don't even want to know. I'm just glad that he's leaving today."

"Hottie boy say what?" Tenten asked.

"What did you just call me?" he asked.

"Don't avoid the question. So what did you say?" she said.

"That Neji is leaving today. Actually, he's leaving in a few minutes. Good riddance," Ryo said.

"Bye Ryo! See ya later!" Tenten called out as she ran upstairs to where Neji's room was. Guests were looking at her strange, but then again, they always looked at her like that.

As soon as she reached Neji's room, she started to pound on the door. "Neji, open up!" she yelled. She could hear a grunt of annoyance from inside. "Wait, what am I doing? I have a master keycard," Tenten said. She took it out of her pocket and jammed it into…..Neji's stomach. He had already opened the door.

"Tenten, why did you poke me with that stupid card of yours?" Neji asked as he rubbed his stomach.

"It didn't hurt?" she asked. She couldn't tell because he had a shirt on, but Neji probably had abs of steel underneath.

"I hate it when people answer a question with a question," Neji commented. He noticed that Tenten looked different without her usual uniform. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

"Well Neji, to answer your question, I poked you with you with my keycard because you wouldn't open the damn door," Tenten answered.

"So that was my punishment for not opening the door, even though I did a few seconds later," Neji said.

"I'm not a patient person," Tenten said. _Ugh, and to think that I almost defended this jerk downstairs with Ryo, she thought._ That's when Tenten noticed the luggage.

"So you really are leaving?" she asked.

"Yeah, I was actually on my way downstairs to pay and sign out," Neji said.

"But I thought that you were going to stay until they finished building the Destiny Mall," Tenten said.

"No, I only came here to set things up with the contractors. It's about time that I start heading back to Tokyo," he said.

"Oh," she said. Was she actually going to miss him? She knew he was going to leave someday, but somehow she thought that he might actually stay. "Well, the least I can do is walk with you to the front desk," Tenten said smiling.

"I guess, if you really want to," Neji said, grabbing his bag. He closed the door behind them and they began to walk downstairs. It was quiet, but the silence wasn't an uncomfortable one.

"It's that guy again," Neji said, referring to Ryo. "I hate him."

"Don't worry, he hates you too," Tenten muttered.

"Ah, Mr. Hyuuga!" Ryo said with an obviously fake smile. "You're leaving?"

"What does it look like? So, how much has my stay here cost?" Neji asked.

"$225, and we accept credit cards and checks as well," Ryo answered. Neji handed him one of his many credit cards.

"Wow! How many do you have?" Tenten asked.

"Eight, I think," Neji said, grabbing his card back from Ryo. He headed towards the front door.

"Tenten, aren't you going to be late for the movie?" Ryo asked.

"Oh, I am. Thanks for reminding me Ryo. I should get going now. Bye!" Tenten yelled. When she reached outside, she caught a final glimpse of Neji as he drove away from the parking lot. She waved at him, although she knew he couldn't see her by now.

**A/N: End of Chapter 1. Next chapter will be set after a 2 year time-skip. Personally, we've been dying to do a Tenten/Neji story and this seemed perfect for them. Please, please,please review! We really want to read your feedback on this story so far. **

**Foxxyfans**


	2. Just NOT My Day

**A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Thanks to all of you who reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story. We really appreciated it. We didn't think that this many people would like the story so much. Lots of you wanted us to update soon, so here's the second chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2- Just NOT my Day!!!**

Two years later...

Turning 18 meant a lot to Tenten. Not only was she out of high school, but she was old enough to leave home and be out on her own. Country life was so dull and boring; she'd been dying to leave there. Living in a city was so much more interesting. That is until you finally got there and found yourself with no place to stay and hardly any money.

"Taxi! Taxi! Argh, why don't they ever stop for me?!" Tenten yelled. She finally arrived in Tokyo a few hours earlier and she was already lost. And hungry. Airplane food was just nasty.

"Okay Tenten, calm down. At least I haven't been mugged...yet," she said to herself. People were looking at her weird. Well, what else was new?

_'If I'm late for my internship meeting then they will definitely fire me! I have like forty minutes to get there...and quick!' _Tenten thought. When she applied as an intern for Hyuuga Interprise, she didn't think she'd actually get the job. '_Guess being a manager at an inn helps.'_

While Tenten was thinking this, a taxi stopped for her. "Hey miss, do you want a ride or not?" the taxi driver said.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" she said, getting inside (along with her two medium-sized luggage bags).

"Where to?" he asked.

"Hyuuga Interprise," Tenten answered. 'I'm an intern there."

"Okay," he said. "So you're new here?"

"Yup. How could you tell?" Tenten said.

"Sorry to break it to you, but it's obvious. You just scream 'I've never been to a city before!' Plus, you're not dressed like the other girls. What are those anyways? Overalls?"

"I needed something comfortable to wear for the flight. Back home a lot of girls my age wear overalls when they just wanted to relax on Sunday," Tenten said.

"Hahahahaha!!" the taxi driver laughed wholeheartedly. "Ooo child, you're going to be eaten alive here! You better watch out and take care of yourself."

Tenten frowned at the last comment. Okay, she got it. She was "different" from everyone else in the city. But who cared? She always liked the fact that she was a unique individual with a feisty personality. You either love her or you don't. Simple as that.

"So how far are we from Hyuuga Interprise?" Tenten asked.

"Ever heard of traffic?" the driver asked.

"Oh yes, it's so frustrating isn't it? Going about 45 mph. That is so slow!" Tenten said.

"That's nothing compared to going less that 20 mph sometimes. Welcome to the city, miss. Traffic here is even worse."

"Urgh!" she groaned.

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"Hi, I'm Tenten Tyzuka! Sorry I'm-."

"You're late," the woman wearing heavy make-up said. She was busy reading a gossip magazine.

"Yeah, I kinda knew that," Tenten said. "Where do-."

"Third floor. Second door to your left," she said, cutting her off again.

"Oh wait, I almost forgot," she said, chewing loudly on her gum. Tenten turned to look at her.

"You can't bring that with you," she said, referring to Tenten's luggage.

"Why not?' Tenten asked.

"Because (POP!) you could be hiding some 'stuff' in there."

"Like what?"

"Well, you know, illegal stuff. We can't have that," she said, blowing her bubble gum. POP! Tenten blinked. Once, then twice.

"Since when did clothes become illegal?" Tenten asked.

"I meant drugs. You could be hiding (POP!) drugs in there, kay? You understand now? It's business procedure, but you can't (POP!) bring your bags with you. You can put them in a faculty locker if you (POP!) want to."

"Oh. Um, sure. But I'm already late as it is. I don't think I have time to-."

"I'll do it for you," she said. Tenten thought this woman cut her off a lot.

"Thanks m'am!" Tenten said as she walked to the elevator. She was about to press the button for the third floor when she heard a voice.

"WAIT! Don't close it!" a man said, running to get inside the elevator. He made it just in time. Tenten's first impression of him was that he had extremely thick, bushy eyebrows. "Sorry about that. I just have to turn in these important papers on time," he said.

"It's okay," Tenten said, pressing the button for the third floor. Guy with bushy brows pressed the button for the seventh floor. He smiled politely at her and started to hum along with the elevator music.

"Well, this is where I get off. Bye!" Tenten said.

"Goodbye stranger," the guy said, waving. Tenten walked along to her left and saw the room.

"I've made it this far pretty okay, so that must be a good sign," Tenten said, talking to herself. She took a deep breath before opening the door and…..

THUD!!

She tripped on her own two feet and fell to the floor. Tenten immediately felt her face flush. Today was just not her day. _'Why me?' _she thought. She got up and saw everyone staring at her.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" a girl with pink hair asked.

"Are you kidding, I'm great! I do that kind of stuff _all_ the time," Tenten said, walking over to the table where everybody was. She took a seat next to a guy with black sunglasses on.

"Okay, now that we're all here, we can finally start the intern meeting," an extremely good- looking guy said. He had black, raven hair and dark eyes. Tenten noticed that the pink-haired girl and her friend, a blondie, were looking at him with hearts in their eyes.

"As you may all know by now, I'm Sasuke Uchiha, Head of Marketing here at Hyuuga Interprise. I'm also your boss, along with three other co-workers of mine," Sasuke said.

_'Haha, he probably got stuck doing the intern meeting. He looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here' _Tenten thought.

"As interns, it's your job to obey our orders. You will also do little tasks here and there, usually with a partner. Even though you don't officially work here, you should still follow the dress code," Sasuke said, looking at Tenten in particular. He continued on explaining more rules and guidelines. Blah blah blah, Tenten was mostly tuning him out.

"And yes, you do get paid," Sasuke finished saying. Then he looked at his expensive watch. "I think now would be a good time to take your ID pictures. It has to be in alphabetical order, so when I call your name, get in line," he said, pointing to a door where a photographer was on the other side.

"Shino Aburame," Sasuke called out from his list. The creepy looking guy sitting next to Tenten stood up and went to the door.

"Chouji Akamichi." A chubby guy walked next to Shino.

"Sakura Haruno." The pink-haired girl from before stood up.

"Kiba Inuzuka." A guy with tattooed red fangs on his cheeks went to stand next to Sakura.

"Tenten Tyzuka." She walked and stood next to Kiba.

"And Ino Yamanaka." The blonde girl went next to Tenten.

"Hey Tenten! Isn't Sasuke just the hottest guy you ever saw?" Ino said.

"Um...sure," Tenten said. He was handsome, but she didn't feel attracted to him.

"Nice outfit. I could never pull off that overalls look," Ino said.

"Thanks Ino. Although it's kinda obvious where I'm from, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah, big time. So are you living by yourself? Me and Sakura are roommates, but we've been best friends for a long time," Ino said.

"Is that her natural hair color?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah. I can never understand why it's pink though," Ino said.

"Next!" the photographer called out.

"My turn already? That was fast," Tenten said as she went to take her picture. After Ino finished with her picture, the interns had time to get to know each other while Sasuke left.

"How old are you?" Sakura asked Tenten.

"I'm eighteen. And you?" Tenten asked.

"Eighteen as well, so is Ino. College wasn't really our thing so we moved here to get jobs and well, tada! Here we are!" Sakura said.

"How 'bout you guys?" Ino asked the boys.

"Me and Shino are 21 and Kiba is 20," Chouji said.

"20 and three quarters actually. I'll be turning 21 in three months," Kiba said.

"We've been interning for about two years now. And next year, we'll actually a stable job here like Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto," Chouji explained.

"Maybe you could teach us the ropes around here. I just know I'm going to get lost," Tenten said.

"Wait, who's Shikamaru and Naruto?" Ino asked.

"Naruto's name seems familiar. I think I've read about in a magazine before," Sakura said.

"I'm not surprised. That knucklehead is dating the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata. The paparrazzi always follows them when they go out," Kiba said.

"But who's the other guy?" Ino asked.

"Shikamaru is Head of Commission Sales. That man is great with numbers, he's a genius! We grew up together and are still very close friends," Chouji said.

"Pch. Some friend, couldn't even get you a job earlier," Tenten said.

"You got a point there Tenten. But-," Chouji said, getting cut off.

"You wanted to earn your job," Shino said, speaking for the first time.

"Whoa, I thought you were mute! You can talk!" Tenten said. Ino and Sakura laughed.

"Yes he can talk. He just chooses not to," Kiba said. They continued talking to each other until a secretary came into the room and asked them to leave.

"Bye," they all said to each other.

"See you guys tomorrow," Tenten said as she left.

"Miss, you almost forgot your (POP!) luggage," the lady from before said.

"Oh, right. Where is it?" Tenten said.

"Here I got it for you about five minutes ago when the meeting ended." She handed Tenten her bags before going back to her magazine. Tenten left the office building and headed to the overcrowded streets.

"Damn, I should really get a place to stay. But where?" Tenten asked herself. Instead of waiting for a taxi (which would have taken forever) she decided to walk. She trusted that her feet would subconsciously take her somewhere.

As Tenten was walking along, a guy walking opposite her tried to steal one of her bags. Tenten realized this and tugged on her bag with all her strength, making the guy fall backwards.

"Oh hell no! You did not just try to mug me, did you?! Well, let me tell you something. I've seen a lot of movies so I know what to do in a situation like this," Tenten yelled at the frightened guy. She gave him the meanest stare she could muster.

"Geez girl, you're friggin scary!" the guy said, getting up and running for his life.

"Yeah, you better run!" Tenten yelled after him.

"That was some serious shit you pulled there little girl," a man said from somewhere.

"Thank you. Wait, who said that?" Tenten asked, looking around the crowded sidewalk. "

"Me. Over here," he said.

"Oh, creepy guy in the dark alley?" Tenten said.

"Yeah," the man said, revealing himself. He was middle-aged, thin, bald (with a shiny head) and a funny goatee. "Looks like you need a place to stay. Lucky for you, I have an available apartment for you."

"Eww! I'm not gonna move in with you!"

"I meant, I own apartments and I have one you can rent," the man said. Tenten didn't know whether or not to trust this stranger.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Toshi," he said.

"Toshi what?" Tenten said. "What's your last name."

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," Toshi said, pointing a finger at her.

"Okay, well, I'm Tenten Tyzuka. Nice to meet you...Toshi. So how's the apartment?" Tenten said.

"Perfect. You're gonna love it," Toshi said. Immediately Tenten started to picture her dream apartment. It was big, had nice furniture, and a sparkly bathtub to relax in on the weekends.

-----------------------------------------------

"Oh," Tenten said, looking at the apartment. "Bye-bye!" What she just saw was the most ugliest, hideous apartment she ever saw in her life.

"Wait! Don't leave! I know it's in a bad condition, but-," Toshi said.

"It has cracks on the wall, holes in the couch, and bad plumbing by the looks on it," Tenten said, cutting Toshi off.

"But that can be fixed. So what do you say?" he asked. She looked at Toshi's not-so-adorable puppy eyes and sighed.

"Fine. I'll take it. How much rent is it every month?" she asked.

"$500," Toshi replied.

"What! That's a rip-off! I'm only an intern and I hardly get paid at all!" Tenten said.

"I hear you sister," he said. "But that's your problem, not mine. Will you be paying in cash or check?"

"Aren't you even going to sympathize with me? Even a little?" Tenten asked.

"Umm, why don't you get a part-time job? I hear Panda Express is hiring. Hey, you kinda look like a panda yourself. Must be the buns," Toshi said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Tenten said.

"So you'll take it?" Toshi asked.

"Fine. This place is better than nothing. So does that make you my landlord now?" Tenten said.

"Yes. And here's your key. Don't lose it because that's the only one I have," Toshi said, giving Tenten her key. "Oh, and there's some supplies in the closet if you want to clean this place a bit." Then he left.

Tenten went over to what was now going to be her room. It had a bed with white walls and a dresser. There was a lamp on top of the dresser. "I _CANNOT_ believe that I'm going to be living here," she said to herself.

-----------------------------------------------------

_'Three hours and 16 minutes. I've been here for three hours and 16 minutes so far. Okay, now it's been three hours, 17 minutes, and 11 seconds. I've been he- AAARRRGGHH!!!! I can't stand it! It's so damn quiet in here!! I thought this was the city. Where's the cars beeping? And the loud bar music across the street that I should be hearing right now?'_

Tenten looked outside her window and saw that the street was empty except for a guy spray painting graffiti on a wall. "Oh great, I live in the criminal side of town. There's nothing but gangsters, drug dealers, and who knows what else," Tenten said.

This was Tenten's first time living by herself and she felt lonely. She blamed the silence for it.

"Umm...I should probably follow Toshi's advice and get another job. Panda Express, here I come!" Tenten said, leaving her "beautiful" apartment.

She decided to take the bus this time, but that turned out to be a mistake. Passengers were staring at her and silently critiquing her fashion choice.

Tenten stepped off the bus and walked to the doors of Panda Express. Or tried to anyways. There was paparazzi outside, each fighting for a spot near a window. _'Must be someone famous' _Tenten thought as she finally managed to get inside.

She looked around and saw who the photographers were trying to catch a glimpse of: a young couple who looked totally in love with each other. They were trying their best to ignore the camera flashes.

What caught Tenten's attention the most (besides the guy's extremely blonde, spiky hair) was the girl's eyes. They were a light shade of purple, almost white, and they had no pupils. Tenten immediately knew whose eyes they resembled. She hadn't seen those eyes in almost two years.

"Miss, do you need anything?" one of the workers said. "You've been standing there for a minute now."

"Uh..right. Someone told me you were hiring and I was interested in getting a job here," Tenten said, putting on her friendliest smile.

"How good are you with money? Can you work a cash register?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Tenten answered. "Are you the manager?"

"No, I'm the assistant manager. Anyways, congratulations! You got the job."

"That's it? No interview? No résumé?" Tenten asked in disbelief.

"That stuff can wait for later. Right now I need you at the cash register. I'm Anko by the way," she said.

"I'm Tenten."

"Well Tenten, those overalls are a fashion don't," Anko said.

"No, they're a fashion don't care," Tenten responed.

"Hm, I think I like you already Tenten. You definitely have sass, I'll give you that. Now, to the register! Pronto!" Anko yelled.

"Yes m'am!" Tenten said, getting behind the counter and handing people their reciepts. After working at the Tyzuka Inn for so long, she was a pro behind the counter.

Tenten kept looking at the supposedly famous couple. The girl was definitely a Hyuuga. _'Could those two be Hinata and Naruto that Kiba was talking about?'_ Tenten thought. Tenten shook these thoughts out of her head and focused on her job.

"Nice job Tenten," Anko said. "I think it was a great decision of mine to hire you."

"Thanks by the way," Tenten said.

"How much is this take-out box of dumplings?" the Hyuuga girl asked. She was holding the box in one hand and her boyfriend's hand in the other.

"Umm..." Tenten said, spacing out. Up close here eyes were identical to _his. _"It's $4.29."

"I'll pay this time," the blonde guy (possibly Naruto) said, taking out his wallet. He handed Tenten a five dollar bill and she gave him back his change.

"Have a nice day!" Tenten said as they left.

An hour later Anko came over to Tenten and said she could go home. "You can work the six to eight shift, if that's cool with you. Mondays through Wednesdays. Fridays and Saturdays."

"Why those days?" Tenten asked.

" 'Cause those are our busiest days and you are a natural at the cash register. Too bad you can only work part-time. What do you do anyways?" Anko said.

"I'm an intern at Hyuuga Interprise. I start tomorrow actually," Tenten replied.

"Oh. Well, good luck with that. See you tomorrow," Anko said. Tenten nodded her head and left Panda Express. By now it was night time and there were a lot of taxis.

"What the heck, why not," Tenten said, signaling for a taxi. One stopped for her and she told him her address.

"Now, what's a young girl like you doing in a place like that?" the driver said.

"I live there," Tenten said matter-of-factly.

"You live there? Like seriously?"

"Yes seriously. I live in one of the apartments over there," Tenten answered.

"Well, watch out for the mysterious looking guys.You don't want know what they're hiding in their big jackets. Scratch that, you probably already know," the driver said. Tenten mostly tuned him out pretty much after that until he said that they arrived and she had to pay.

Tenten walked to her apartment, only to find someone already there. "Toshi! What the hell are you doing in my apartment?!"

"Oh, back so soon?" Toshi said. He was sitting on the couch, watching T.V.

"Toshi!" Tenten yelled, bewildered.

"Are you okay with me being here? Right. Of course you are," he said.

"Hey, don't answer my questions for me! I'm the only one who can do that! How'd you get in here anyways? I thought you said you only had one key."

"Exactly. Besides the key that you have, I have one for myself."

"So you have two keys."

"No, I have one key. You have the other one."

"What? You're confusing me."

"I have that effect on a lot of people," Toshi said.

"Why are you here?" Tenten asked. "And watching my T.V.?"

"Because mine has really bad signal. You can't see a damn thing. Oh, by the way, can I leave some stuff here?" Toshi asked.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Legal stuff. Definitely legal. 100 legal stuff," he said.

"Okay I guess," Tenten answered.

"Good," Toshi said, getting up to leave. Once he left, Tenten yawned and decided it was time to go to bed. She took off her overalls and put on her pajamas, undid her hair ties, and got under the covers.

---------------------------------------------

"No. No. Definitely no," Tenten said as she was going through her closet. "Don't tell me I own nothing sophisticated!"

"Oh wait, I found it!" Tenten shouted to no one as she finally found her white long-sleeved blouse and black slacks. She put those on and quickly tied her hair into her signature buns. Perfect. She grabbed her purse and walked out the door.

Tenten finally flagged down a taxi fairly quickly and got in. "Take me to the nearest coffee house," she said as the cab driver sped off. He took her to a French-inspired cafe that had tables inside and outside (where there was a small garden).

By the time she got to _La Belle Cafe _it was 7:45. She had forty-five minutes until she had to go to Hyuuga Interprise. And there just had to be a line. A short line, but a line nonetheless. When Tenten's turn came (eight minutes later) she got a vanilla flavored mocha.

"Thank you," Tenten said, turning around and accidentally bumping into someone. Her coffee spilled all over his shirt.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I didn't see where I was going," Tenten said, picking up her cup from the floor.

"Not this again."

_'That voice...' _Tenten thought. She looked up to see who it was. "It's you."


	3. Oh Hell No!

**Chapter 3- Oh Hell No!**

"Oh my god, Neji! I haven't seen you in like forever!" Tenten said, hugging him.

"Um...you know me and yet I don't know you," Neji said, getting away from Tenten. "And you owe me a new shirt by the way."

"What?! You don't remember me?" Tenten asked.

"Did I sleep with you once? Sorry, but I don't remember every girl that I've slept with," Neji said.

"No, I didn't sleep with you," Tenten said.

_'Who the hell is this girl? She looks familiar, but I don't know why. And those buns. Where have I seen them before?_' Neji thought.

"Here, let me give you a hint. My name starts with a T," she said.

"T-Tenten?" Neji said after a while. "Are you that annoying counter girl from that inn?"

"Yes! I didn't think I'd see you again. And especially in this small cafe."

"I go here often, before work," he answered. "What are you doing here? Trying to spill coffee on as many people as you can? If I remember clearly, you did the same thing to me two years ago."

"Hehe, sorry about that," Tenten said. "And stop calling me annoying, it's so-."

"Annoying," Neji chimed in. "So, what are you doing in Tokyo?"

"'Well, for being a prodigy you sure are out of the know," Tenten said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I work for you."

"What?" Neji said, his mouth slightly hanging open. Priceless.

"I don't work exactly for you. I work at Hyuuga Interprise now," Tenten said, trying to explain.

"When did this happen? And how come I didn't know about it?" Neji asked.

"Don't sweat it whiteboy, I'm only an intern."

"Whiteboy?" Neji questioned.

"Neji Hyuuga, you need a tan. You are the whitest guy I know, and I know a lot of guys," Tenten said. She caught a glimpse of the clock. "Ohmygod! I'm gonna be late! I can't believe it! And it's all your fault!"

"How is it my fault?' Neji asked.

"Because you were talking to me," Tenten said, walking out of the cafe (Neji beside her) to get a taxi. It was useless, of course. "Argh, can't I ever get a break around here!"

"This is just pathetic! I'll just give you a ride myself," Neji said.

"What! Why?"

"Think about it Tenten. We're both going to the same place, I might as well take you there. And watching you trying to get a taxi is sad," Neji said, walking to his car.

"Um...okay...thanks," Tenten said. _Who knew Neji could be so...nice. He's actually offering to give me a ride to work, _Tenten thought.

"Don't thank me. I'm just stating the obvious and solving your problem. Again," Neji said, stopping to look at her and smirk.

"Do you have to remind me of that?" Tenten asked, remembering the stupid math problem Neji solved for her. "Let me tell you this, I've grown a lot smarter."

_And a lot taller, _Neji thought. _She used to barely reach my shoulder and now she's almost the same height as me. _

"Wow! Nice car," Tenten said as she got in.

"Black leather interior with built-in massage seats," Neji said, turning on the ignition and driving towards the Hyuuga Interprise building.

"Really?" Tenten asked. Neji nodded and pressed a button. Tenten could feel the vibrations in her seat and made herself more comfortable. "Ah, I could get used to this."

"Don't," he said, automatically turning it off.

"You ruined my feel-good moment," Tenten said, crossing her arms. "Oh, and you _still _have a coffee stain on your shirt. I'd put a new one if I were you."

"Too late. Unless...you want to be late for work?" Neji asked.

"No! Now andale!" Tenten said, stepping on the gas pedal (and Neji's foot.)

"Oww! Geez woman, get your foof off my foot!" Neji yelled, careful not to hit other cars. Tenten released her foot and smiled.

"What do you know, we're here already," she said, getting out of the car. "And all thanks to me." Neji mumbled something incoherent. Together they entered the building and Tenten was amazed. Yesterday there were hardly any people, but today it was packed with busy people.

"It's a bit overwhelming, isn't it?" Neji asked.

"Totally," Tenten answered.

"Hey Tenten! Over here!" Ino yelled from across the room. As usual, Sakura was right beside her. They were making their way towards her.

"Who's that girl next to you? Does she work here too?" Sakura asked, referring to Neji. At this Tenten laughed while Neji blushed.

"Um...no. May I introduce you to Neji Hyuuga, our boss!" Tenten said when she stopped laughing.

"N-Neji? As in a guy? Not a girl?" Sakura asked, looking embarrassed. "Oops, my bad. I'm so sorry Hyuuga m'am. Ah, I mean sir! Hyuuga sir!"

"Sakura, quit your rambling. At least I made a good first impression," Ino said. "Right?"

"As far as I can see, you three are all equally annoying," Neji said.

"What?!" they all said in unison.

"Good day ladies," he said leaving to go to an elevator.

"Take that back Neji! You're just mad for being called a girl!" Tenten yelled. Those who were near her stopped to look at her then walked off.

"Tenten, you can't talk to him like that. He's our boss. You could get fired," Sakura said.

"He just called us annoying. Didn't you hear him?" Tenten said.

"Yeah, but he's Neji Hyuuga," Ino said.

"Exactly," Sakura said, agreeing.

"Urgh, whatever. Let's just go to our intern office.

"Lounge. It's our intern lounge. We don't get an office," Ino said as they walked to the elevators. They got in one with other workers and landed off the sixth floor.

"It smells funky," Tenten said.

"Oh, I know what you mean. Someone put on way too much perfume," Ino said, pinching her nose. They went inside a room where Kiba, Chouji, and Shino were.

"Looking good ladies. Very professional," Kiba said, giving them a thumbs up.

"Thanks. You guys as well," Sakura said, sitting on one of the lounge chairs and crossing her legs.

"So, do we just stay here and do nothing?" Ino asked.

"No. There's usually a bulletin posted that tells us what to do," Chouji said. 'They also just call us if they need something done." So they waited. And waited. And waited until they couldn't wait no more.

"God, the wait is so frustrating! How can you people stand it?" Tenten exclaimed.

"Uh, Tenten, it's only been ten minutes," Chouji said while checking his watch.

"Well, ten minutes of my life I ain't getting back," Tenten said.

RING! RING!

"The intern hotline!" Tenten said.

"No, don't call it that," Kiba said.

"Is anyone going to answer the phone?" Shino asked.

"Hello?" Sakura said, picking up. "Uh-huh. Yeah. Oh, okay. Bye."

"Who was that?" Chouji asked.

"Shikamaru's secretary. She said that she wanted to see us girls for something important," she said.

"Really? Why?" Ino asked.

"Hahaha! You'll see why," Kiba said. "I complete forgot that you haven't met Shikamaru's secretary yet."

"You all better go right away. Her desk is right outside Shikamaru's office, which is on this floor as well," Chouji said.

"Let's go girls," Tenten said to Ino and Sakura, leaving.

"You think we should have warned them about her?" Chouji asked once they were gone.

"Nah. They should figure it out by themselves, like we did. It's only fair,"Kiba said.

"That's so mean. I like it," Shino said.

----------------------------------------------------------

"Ah, that horrible stench is getting more and more horrible!" Ino said. They stopped walking when they saw a girl with four blonde pigtails sitting at a desk, outside Shikamaru's desk. She was wearing a rather short skirt and tight blouse.

"I think the smell is coming from her," Sakura commented.

"Hi ladies, it's so nice to finally meet you!" she said with a fake smile. "I'm Temari by the way."

"I'm Tenten and this is Ino and Sakura," she said, introducing them.

"Like I care. I only wanted you all to come here to tell you to stay out of my territory. It's a well-known fact that me and Shikamaru are going to get together soon. Real soon. And none of you three prissy bitches better get in the way. Got it?" Temari said.

"Temari, is it? Look here, you slut! You can't tell us what to do. And next time you leave your house, don't put on so much goddamn perfume!" Ino said, a little red in the face.

"Eh! I know you did not just call me a slut, you whore!" Temari yelled, getting up from her chair.

"Excuse me?! If anyone is a whor-," Ino said, stopping when she saw who came out of the door. A tall, tan, and gorgeous guy had just stepped out of his office.

"Is there a problem here?" Shikamaru asked.

"No," all four of them said in unison.

"Are you sure? I thought I heard the word slut mentioned a few times," he said, crossing his arms.

"I think you misheard us. We said shut, not slut. Those two can easily get confused," Tenten said. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe you're right. I was half-asleep anyways," Shikamaru said. "Hey, aren't you the new interns? What are you guys doing here?"

"Uh...what are we doing here?" Sakura said.

"We're here because-," Tenten said.

"Because I wanted them to copy some documents," Temari cut in, grabbing some random papers. All the while, Ino was silent, staring at Shikamaru.

"Okay, I believe it...this time. Now get back to work," he said, going back to his office.

Temari glared at their retreating backs, Ino in particular. "This isn't over yet,"she said as Sakura, Tenten, and Ino left.

"Ino, what was up with you? You hardly even spoke when Shikamaru was there," Sakura said,

"I think someone has a crush on a certain someone," Tenten said in a sing-song voice. Ino blushed. "So it is true!"

"I just think he's good-looking, that's all. besides, he and Temari are together aren't they?" Ino said.

"That bitch was obviously lying. Trust me, I know her kind," Sakura said as they walked into the lounge. Kiba and Shino were gone, but Chouji was there, eating chips.

"So how'd it go?" he asked.

"Argh, terrible! Temari reminds me of those snobbish girls I used to go to school with," Tenten said.

"She's a royal pain in the ass," Ino said.

"Ouch. That was a bit harsh. Did she give you 'the talk?' She gives it to all the new girl workers."

"Yes, she did. Appearantly she thinks Shikamaru is her property.And Ino got a little jealous," Sakura said, smiling at the last part.

"No I didn't! I was just mad that she called us bitches," Ino said.

"Do you like Shikamaru?" Chouji asked, getting more interested in the conversation.

"N-No!' Ino exclaimed. "I need to go to the bathroom," she said, leaving the room.

"She's in denial," Tenten said as the phone rang. "Ooo, let me get it! Hello?'

"Tenten?"

"Neji? What do you want?"

"Coffee. I want a cup of coffee," he said.

"You've got to be kidding me. You want me to bring you a cup of coffee?" she said.

"Yes. I thought I made that clear. I like my coffee black."

"Hm. Real manly. Are you trying to bring your ego up because Sakura called you a girl?" Tenten asked.

"..."

"Ha! I knew it!'

"Hn. I want my coffee brought to me in five minutes," he said, hanging up.

"Was that Neji?" Sakura asked.

"No way! You called Neji a girl?" Chouji asked.

"Guilty as charged," Sakura said.

Tenten went over to the coffeemaker and checked that the coffee was still hot. She poured some coffee into a Mickey Mouse mug. "Well, bye you two. I gotta give Mr. Egotistic his coffee," Tenten said, leaving. She knew Neji's office was on the seventh floor so she decided to use the stairs. Tenten easily found his office (it was the biggest one). She knocked on the door.

"Enter," Neji said from inside. Tenten opened the door and saw Neji sitting in his desk and the same bushy-browed guy from yesterday.

"Hey, I know you!" Tenten said.

"Oh, hello friend," he said.

_'Uh...f-friend? When did that happen?' _Tenten thought, her right eye twitching.

"Tenten, this is Rock Lee. He's my secretary/ personal assistant," Neji said.

"A guy secretary? Wait, then why did you ask me to get you coffee? Lee isn't doing anything," Tenten said.

"And neither were you," Neji answered. "So Lee, don't forgot to tell Naruto that the deadline for the catalog is next Wednesday."

"Right. Good bye Tenten," he said as he walked past her.

"Here's your coffee," Tenten said, walking towards Neji.

"What is that ridiculous mug?" Neji asked.

"It's Mickey Mouse. Isn't is cute?"

"No. Now come back with another mug."

"Say what?!"

"What?" Neji said.

"Huh?" Tenten asked.

"You said to say what, so I did," he replied. Tenten mentally slapped Neji in her mind for his stupidity.

"Well, I'm not going to get another cup of coffee just because you don't like Mickey," she said.

"I can always fire you."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would."

"Argh!" Tenten screamed, leaving to get another mug. She came back a few minutes later. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic," Neji said, drinking up. "Mmm." Tenten couldn't help but smile at watching Neji look content from drinking coffee.

----------------------------------------------------------

I'm so glad I survived my first day of work," Tenten said.

"Hey Tenten, did you ever find a place to stay?" Ino asked.

"Uh- yeah, yeah I did," Tenten answered.

"How it is?" Sakura asked.

"Well, let's jsut say that I need to renovate the place. A lot," Tenten said.

"Oh, we can so help you with that. Sakura and I have seen so many episodes of _Extreme Makeover: Home Edition _that we're experts. We can come by this weekend," Ino said.

"Okay," Tenten then gave Ino and Sakura her address.

When Tenten arrived at her apartment she didn't expect to see mountains of boxes. Or Toshi watching T.V.

"Toshi, what are you doing here? In MY apartment?" Tenten said.

"Oh, just thought I'd come here for some rest and relaxation," Toshi answered.

"But you don't do anything."

"How would you know?"

"You're right, I don't," Tenten said.

"Good, now shh! Fabio is about to confront Francessa with a vengeance!" Toshi said, focusing his attention back to the television. Tenten looked at what Toshi was watching and realized she couldn't understand a word the people were saying.

"Toshi, this soap opera is in Spanish. You don't know Spanish."

"What I do know is beef between two people and _that _is international," Toshi retorted.

"Okay, but what am I going to do with all these boxes? They're just taking too much space and my apartment is already small as it is," Tenten said.

"Keep them. Use them. Do whatever you want with them. I think there's a new T.V. in one of them," Toshi said.

"What's the catch?"

"What catch? There's no catch. Just don't tell anyone where you got it from. Oh Francessa, don't take Fabio back!" he said.

"Thanks...I guess," Tenten responded. "But where did _you _get all this stuff?"

"I know people," Toshi answered. "Hey, are you single?"

"Y-Yes. Why do you wanna know?"

"I know a guy who is desperate. I mean really, really desperate. He hasn't been on a date in two years. Do you think you might be interested?" Toshi said.

"I don't knoe. I'm not into blind dates," Tenten said.

"Trust me, this guy is perfect for you."

"That's what you said about the apartment as well."

"And look how well it's been for you! You even got a free T.V.!"

"Hm...fine," she said, giving in.

"Great. I'll set a date up for you," said Toshi.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Tenten was behind the cash register when the phone rang. "This is Panda Express. What can I do for you?" she asked, using her polite vioce.

"Hey Tenten, this is Toshi. I just wanted to say that I got you a man," Toshi said.

"What?!" Tenten said, actually having second thoughts.

"Yeah. My friend Tetsuya Nomura is available tomorrow night at eight."

"That soon?" Wait, how did you get this number?" Tenten asked.

"Oh, believe me, it wasn't easy," Toshi said.

"Let me guess, you looked it up in the yellow pages, didn't you?"

"Yes. So are you going to be free tomorrow night?"

"Um, I think so. I'll ask my boss if I can have the night off," she said hanging up. "Yo Anko!"

"What!?" Anko yelled from the back room. She was sorting the plates from size.

"Can I have the night off tomorrow?!" Tenten yelled.

"Why?!" Anko yelled back. Tenten was a little apprehensive to tell her her reason.

"A date!" Tenten said.

"Ooo! Is it a hot date?" Anko said, walking over to Tenten.

"I don't know. I hope so. It's a blind dat actually."

Anko made a face. "Blind dates are the worst! But whatever, it's your life. So yes, you can have tomorrow night off. Just don't do anything I would," she said, winking. Tenten laughed nervously.

"Riiiight," she said.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Argghh!! Get away from me!!" someone yelled.

_'Hm? Where have I heard that voice before?' _Tenten thought. She was walking to the lounge after getting Neji his second cup of coffee.

"But your beauty is so youthful! Will you be my girlfriend?" a guy asked. Tenten finally saw who they were: Sakura and Lee.

"No way! Not in a million years!" Sakura said.

"Why not?" Lee asked.

"Because you have the most weirdest hairstyle and those eyebrows...they're so bushy!!" she exclaimed.

"Hey guys!" Tenten said, stepping in.

"Hey Tenten," Lee said, looking a bit gloom. "Sakura, even though you rejected my offer, I'll still try to win your heart," he said before walking away.

"Ouch. Don't you think that was a bit mean?" Tenten asked Sakura.

"Maybe, but I don't want to be his girlfriend. He's...he's.." Sakura said, thinking of the right word to describe Lee.

"He's Lee," Tenten said. Sakura nodded her head. "Oh well, it wasn't going to work out between you two anyways." Sakura's mouth hung open.

"It's obvious he was going to break up with you later on," Tenten said.

"Excuse me?! I think it was the other way around," Sakura said.

"Whatever you say," Tenten said as they walked into the intern lounge.

"Oh Sakura, you're so beautiful and youthful!" Kiba and Chouji said, laughing.

"Eh? You guys heard all that?" Sakura asked.

"And more," Kiba said. "Lee came in here earlier, asking for the beautiful, young cherry blossom he saw the other day. Sakura, he was confessing his love for you to us."

"Yeah, after five minutes of hearing him talk, we told him where he could find you," Chouji said. "He's totally and completely in love with you."

"NOOOO!!" Sakura screamed. "I'm doomed! Wait, isn't it against the rules to date one of your workers?"

"Hm, I guess so," Kiba said.

"We're back!" Ino said as she and Shino entered the room.

"Guess what? You guys won't believe it!" Tenten said, quickly filling them in.

"Hahaha, you've got to be joking!" Ino laughed. Shino stayed silent, as usual.

"It's not funny," Sakura said, crossing her arms.

"I had a dream last night," Chouji said.

"What was it about Martin Luther King?" Tenten asked.

"Well, actually, it wasn't a dream. It was more like a nightmare. There were no more potato chips in the world!"

"Ho-rib-ble!" Ino said, emphasizing on each syllable.

"Weird," Kiba said.

"What was more weird is that Shino was in my dream," Chouji said, looking at said person.

"Why in God's name was I in your dream?" Shino asked.

"You ate the last potato chip."

'I don't even like chips," Shino said.

"What _do _you like?" Tenten asked, curious to know.

"Bugs," he replied.

_Creepy, _Tenten thought.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Toshi, what the hell was that?!" Tenten said after her date ended.

"Hey, haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Toshi asked when she barged into his apartment. "I could have been naked or something."

"That was absolutely the WORST date in my ENTIRE life!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Why? What happened?" he asked.

"Oh, I'll tell you what happened."

**FLASHBACK:**

_Tenten sat down at a reserved table for two, waiting for her date. The place wasn't that bad, except for the menu. All the food sounded like the names of exotic, extinct animals. _

_"Hey, you must be Tenten, right?" a guy said, sitting on the empty seat. She nodded. _

_'Wow! This guy is HOT! Especially with that leather jacket and tight shirt underneath. Ooo, he has a six pack! And is that a tattoo I see on his neck?' thought Tenten. _

_"So you're Tetsuya. You're different from how I pictured you," Tenten said. _

_"Yeah, I look like a total biker-dude. I don't even own a motorcycle," Tetsuya said, flashing a smile. Tenten batted her eyelashes flirtaciously. _

_"Uhh...Tenten, are you okay? Do you ave some gunk in your eyes?" he asked. _

_"No," she answered, blushing nervously. _

"I don't get it. What was so bad?" Toshi asked.

"Don't interrupt me! I wasn't finished with my story yet. Now, where was I? Oh yeah..." Tenten said.

_"This food tastes amazing!" Tenten said. 'Yuck! This tastes like shit! My aunt's terrible cooking is better that this.'_

_"So Tenten, how old are you? 21? 22?' Tetsuya asked. _

_"Actually, I'm 18," Tenten replied. _

_"Eighteen? Toshi didn't mention that to me," he said. _

_"Um, how old are you?" Tenten asked. 'Please be less that 25!' she thought. _

_"I'm 27," Tetsuya said. _

_"Oh," she said, disappointed. _

_"Age doesn't really matter, does it?"_

_"No of course not," Tenten lied. An uncomfortable silence followed._

_"So Tetsuya, why haven't you been in a date for two years?" Tenten asked curiously. _

_"Well, it's not something I like to talk about. I was in jail," he answered. _

_"Jail?" Tenten said, shocked. Tetsuya nodded his head. _

_"What for? What did you do?" she asked. 'I can't believe I'm on a date with an ex-convict!'_

_"It was nothing bad."_

_"So it's not like you killed some old guy or something like that," Tenten said jokingly. _

_"Who told you that?" he asked with wide eyes. "How'd you find out?"_

_"I-I was just kidding. But it's true? Ohmygod!" said a panicked Tenten. _

_"Now, Tenten, don't overrea-." Too late._

_"AAAHHHH!!! A murderer was trying to rape me, then he was going to kill me!!" Tenten yelled loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. _

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"Huh, you'd think I would have mentioned that to you," Toshi said thoughtfully, rubbing his goatee.

"Toshi! Did you even listen?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah, of course I did. So it didn't work between you two. Too bad, I know a guy who could have gotten you a 50 discount off wedding invitations."

"I'll pass on that 'wonderful' offer," she said sarcastically.

"You know what your problem is Tenten?' Toshi asked.

"What?"

"You're too damn picky. That won't get you far in life."

"Pch, look who's talking," Tenten said.

"Hey! I like to think that I have a successful career in real estate," he said. Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, how did you find that guy? He was a complete psyco," Tenten said.

"Oh, I didn't find him. He found me," Toshi said.

"Why am I not surprised?" Tenten said.

----------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: That was a really crappy way to end the chapter. The next chapter might be posted in a few weeks. Please review, and no flames!**


	4. A Troublesome Experience

**Chapter 4- A Troublesome Experience**

RING! RING! RING!

"Argh, go away! This is my weekend!" Tenten said from under the covers. Of course, that didn't stop her phone from ringing.

"God, who did I kill in my past life to deserve this? I need my sleep," she said, talking to herself. "It's barely six o'clock."

RING! RING! RING!

Tenten groaned and left from the warmthness of her bed and walked to where her phone was. "Hello? Do you have any idea wh-."

"Tenten, what took you so long to pick up your phone? Anyways, Ino and I are coming over, " Sakura said.

"Huh? For what?" Tenten asked, not fully awake yet.

"Did you forget already? We're helping you fix your apartment, remember?" she said.

"Oh...that was today?"

"Yeah. And the sooner we start, the faster we'll be finished. Then we can go shopping!" Sakura said. Now Tenten was completey awake now.

"Shopping? Why didn't you say so? Hurry up and get here fast!" Tenten said and hung up. She ran to her room and took a quick shower. She got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt (and her usual two buns). Tenten heard a knock on her door and opened it.

"Hey guys," Tenten said, letting them in.

"Ohmigod Tenten, there are no elevators. Me and Sakura had to walk all the way up here carrying all this stuff," Ino said. Tenten now noticed they had buckets of paint, towels, bedsheets, and kitchen appliances in bags.

"Oops, sorry about that," Tenten said.

"So, this is where you live," Sakura said looking around. "It's a bit small and untidy, but I like it."

"Thanks. At least someone appreciates my messiness," Tenten said.

KNOCK-KNOCK!

"Who's that? Are you expectig anyone else?" Sakura asked.

"Um no. It must be-."

"Yo Tenten, do I have to invite myself in?" Toshi said, opening the door and letting himself in.

"Don't you always?" she said. "Anyways Ino, Sakura, this is my EXTREMELY rude landlord Toshi."

"Aw, do you have to give me a bad introduction before they'ev got to know me?" he said. "So, what are you ladies up to?"

"We're gonna help Tenten fix this place up," Ino said.

"Three girls fixing an apartment? This oughtta be interesting," Toshi said.

"So are you going to stay and watch or are you going to help us?" Tenten asked.

"Stay and watch. Maybe watch my soap opera as well," he said, sitting down on the couch.

"Is he always like that?" Sakura whispered to Tenten.

"Unfortunately yes. Anyways, let's get started!" she said as they opened the paint bucket. It was a pastel yellow color with a faint gloss. Twenty minutes later they had finished paintig the small kitchen and were moving to the living room.

"Toshi, get your ass off the couch. We need to move it," Tenten said. He got up and went to the kitchen, raiding the fridge.

"I heard they're having a super sale at the Destiny Mall," Ino said, gliding her paintbrush over the wall.

"No way! They have one here too?" Tenten said.

"They have one like in every major city and in some towns as well," Sakura said.

"Yeah, but this one is HUGE!! Over 150 stores and 20 food courts," Ino said.

"Hey, what kind of person has low-fat cream cheese in their fridge? It tastes like paste," said Toshi.

"What kind of food do you have at your house?" Tenten asked.

"I don't keep food in my place."

"Why would you." _He's hardly at his house anyways, _Tenten thought.

"Exactly. And by the way, you're all out of jam. All you have left is grape jelly," Toshi said. Tenten rolled her eyes and continued painting.

"So Ino, what are you going to do to get Shikamaru to notice you?" Sakura asked.

"What makes you think I wanto Shikamaru to notice me?" Ino said. Tenten and Sakura laughed at that part.

"Come on Ino, it's like totally obvious you like him," Tenten said. "You go by his office everyday just to see him, hoping he'll see you too."

"No I do not!" Ino exclaimed, blushing.

"Are you girls talking about relationships? You know, I can help you since I'm a guy and, you know, I think like a guy," Toshi said, eating a sandwich.

"No!" Ino said.

"Yes!" Tenten and Sakura said at the same time.

"You want to hear something interesting? I once had an intimate encounter with a lady who was entirely green," Toshi said.

"Why was she green?" Sakura asked.

"I didn't ask," he said.

"Why not?" Ino asked.

"I thought it'd be too rude." Tenten, Ino, and Sakura all sweatdropped.

"And this helps me how?" Ino asked.

"It doesn't. I just thought it was an interesting story," Toshi said, biting into his sandwich. "Tenten, you need to buy some more bread. Guys can't stand an empty fridge. It's a huge turn-off."

"Go watch your stupid telenovelas and get out of my kitchen!" Tenten said.

"Yes m'am!" Toshi said, turning on the T.V.

"I think I'm deaf now," Sakura said.

"Whoa Tenten, you sure can yell," Ino said.

"What can I say, I've had years of practice," she said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Yay! We're finally done!" Tenten said. Besides painting the kitchen and living room, they also painted Tenten's bedroom. The walls were now a light blue.

"Hey Toshi, what do you think?" Sakura asked. "Toshi?"

"Zzzzz...," Toshi snored. He was asleep on the couch.

"WHAT?! He fell asleep!" Tenten said.

"Come one, let's go! The sale isn't gonna last all day! I need to buy some shoes and everyone knows size 7 always go out first," Ino said, dragging Sakura and Tenten.

"But...," Tenten began.

"Oh, let him sleep. You can yell at him later," Ino said.

"To the mall!" Tenten said, leading the way. Once they were outside, they tried flagging down a taxi. "Urgh! It's hopeless! They never stop!" Tenten said.

"Watch and learn," Sakura said, walking towards the edge of the sidewalk. She put her thumb and forefinger in her mouth and whistled. A cab immediately pulled over and stopped. "See? It wasn't so hard," she said smiling.

"Wow! You definitely need to teach me that," Tenten said as she got in the passenger seat. Ino and Sakura sat at the back.

"Where to?" the cab driver asked, adjusting his mirror.

"The Destiny Mall," Tenten said.

"And step on it!" Ino added. The driver nodded his head and quickly drove to their destination.

"Thanks," the three of them said, each paying their share.

"Holy shit! This place really is huge!" Tenten said. The Destiny Mall was four stories high and the parking lot was ludicrous. Finding your car would be difficult.

"Told you I wasn't lying. Now let's go," Ino said impatiently. They entered through the big shiny doors, their mouths wide open.

"OH," Ino said.

"MY," Sakura said.

"GOD," Tenten finished.

The inside of the mall was completely packed! Hundreds of people were coming and going, hands full with shopping bags. It was a pandemic place to be at the moment.

"Okay, we won't get lost if we just stick with each other," Sakura said. "Right?"

"Yeah, of course," Tenten said uncertainly.

"What do you say Ino?" Sakura asked. "Ino?" She looked around. "Don't tell me she left already?"

"That girl is a shopaholic," Tenten said.

"Tell me something I don't know. Do you see her anywhere?" Sakura asked.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you're taller."

"I knew my tallness would come in hand one day," Tenten said, searching for Ino over people's heads/ She spotted a blonde head. "There! I think I see her."

Sakura and Tenten walked over to the shoe store where Ino was. Sure enough, Ino was already trying on some shoes, admiring how they looked by the full-length mirror.

"Hey Ino, did you miss us?" Sakura said with sarcasm.

"Sorry about that. But look, everything is like 40 or 50 off," Ino said, adjusting the straps to her shoes.

"Don't you think the heels are a bit high?" Tenten asked. The shoe had a five-inch heel.

"Nonsense. I wear these kind of shoes all the time," she said. "Oh, would you look at those! I have to have them." Ino was pointing at a pair of leather red shoes with a six-inch heel and little diamonds encrusted on the straps.

"Ino, they cost $235, even with the 50 taken off," Sakura pointed out.

"And would you look at the size of those heels! You're going to be tripping a lot...or at least I would," Tenten said.

"Don't tell me you've never worn heels before?" Sakura asked.

"Once, but I ended up in the hospital with a sprained ankle. My foot was really swollen. It was the size of a tennis ball!" Tenten explained.

"Ew, gross!" Ino and Sakura said at the same time.

"Then in that case, we need to buy you some heels," Ino said.

"Did you not hear me? Ankle swollen like a tennis ball," Tenten said.

"I think you're overexaggerating. It can't be that bad," Sakura said.

"Oh, it is," Tenten said.

"I need those shoes," Ino said again. She walked towards it and put her hand on it. At the same time, another girl touched is as well.

"Oh," she said, surprised. Tenten thought she looked familiar but couldn't tell because she had sunglasses on. "I think I grabbed it first," she said, tugging on it.

"Oh no, I think I did," Ino said, tugging it as well.

"Look, I don't want to cause any commotion," the girl said in her quiet voice. '_Where have I seen her before?'_ Tenten thought.

"Then let go of it!" Ino yelled. It soon became a game of tug of war.

"You guys, stop it! You're going to break the shoe!" Sakura exclaimed. Other shoppers were looking at them too.

"Hey Hinata is something wrong?" a ablonde guy said, coming over to them.

"You're Naruto Uzumaki!" Tenten said, recognizing him. "Which means that you must be-."

"Hinata Hyuuga," Ino said, still holding on to the shoe.

"Shh! We're trying to keep ourselves on the DL. You know how hard it is going outside with people taking pictures of you?" Naruto said.

"No," Tenten, Ino, and Sakura said in unison.

"Naruto, I think we should go. People are looking," Hinata said.

"Are you Neji's sister?" Tenten asked.

"No. I 'm his cousin," she answered. "Wait, do you know Neji-niisan?"

"Yeah, me and him go waaaay back," Tenten said.

"You do? Funny, he never mentioned you," Naruto said.

"We're not _that _close. We're as close as two people can get when one person calls the other person a jackass," Tenten said.

"You called Neji a jackass?" Naruto asked. "And you're still alive to tell the tale?"

"He must have a soft spot for you," Hinata said. Tenten snorted.

"I doubt it. I just work for him."

"You work at Hyuuga Interprise?" Hinata asked.

"Not really. We're interns there," Sakura said.

"Yeah. Can you let go of the shoe now?" Ino asked Hinata.

"You're not going to back down are you?" Hinata said. Ino shook her head in no. "Well, they weren't really my style anyway," she said, letting go of them.

"Ha!" Ino said gleefully.

"Kiba didn't say anything about you guys. Neither did Shino. But then again, Shino doesn't say anything," Naruto said.

"True," Tenten said, laughing.

"Ohmigod, they fit perfectly!" Ino said, referring to the shoes.

"Wow, they look so much better on you than they would on me," Hinata said.

"Thanks!" Ino said.

"Hey Hinata, we gotta go. We promised your father we'd have lunch with him," Naruto said, putting his arm around her waist.

"Okay," she said. "Bye... I don't even know your names." Tenten, Sakura, and Ino quickly introduced themselves.

"You girls seem pretty cool. Well, see ya later!" Naruto said, waving as he and Hinata left.

"They look so perfect together," Sakura said dreamily.

"Yeah, they do. I wish someone would look at me the way Naruto looks at Hinata," Tenten said.

"They are so going to end up getting married," Sakura said.

"Sakura, Tenten! It's your turn to buy some shoes," Ino said.

"I don't think so," Tenten said.

"Oh yes you are," Ino said.

"Look, I found this in your size," Sakrua said.

"Do you want me to trip and immediately die? I'm like a hazard to myself with heels on," Tenten siad. "Hey, where are ya'll going?"

"Cash register," Sakura said. She had picked out a pair of shoes for herself as well.

"What? Nooo!" Tenten said.

CHA-CHING!

"Thank you and have a nice day," the cashier lady said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

_'Ow. Ouch. Ow. Ouch. Ooo, double ow!' _Tenten thought as she walked to the intern lounge the next day. She was wearing the black pumps she bought yesterday. Right now, her feet were in pain!

Tenten was busy walking steady when her heel dug in some guy's shoe. He winced in pain and Tenten quickly took a step back. "I'm so sorry!" she said. _'I forgot to mention to Ino and Sakura that besides being a hazard to myself, I'm also a hazard to other people.'_

"Sorry isn't going to help me," he said, massaging his foot.

"Um...well... bye!" Tenten said, walking away.

"Oh Tenten, there you are!" Ino said when she entered the lounge.

"Those shoes are so kawaii!" Sakura said.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that I may be suffering, but at least I look cute," Tenten said sarcastically.

"Tenten, Neji called. He wants his coffee," Chouji said.

"What am I? His coffee girl?" she said.

"Unofficially, but yeah, you are," Kiba said.

"Thank god, because last year it was me and this other intern," Chouji said.

"What happened to him..or her?" Sakura asked.

"He quit. He couldn't handle, what did he call it, Neji's 'bossiness.' Poor guy didn't last three weeks," Chouji said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about him. he sure could make a good cup of coffee though," Kiba said.

"That he could," Chouji said. By now, Tenten was walking out with a mug of coffee in her hand. She had to be EXTRA careful not to trip and spill coffee all over the place. She used the elevator, just to be safe.

"Come in!" Neji said when she knocked on his door.

"Yo Neji, my homie! Here's your coffee," Tenten said with a smile.

"Could you bring it to me?" he asked, typing on his computer.

"But that would involve walking."

"It would."

Tenten looked down at the shiny tile floor. Itas a perfect floor to slip and fall. Tenten gulped as she made her way to Neji. She took small, baby steps. Neji, noticing this, smirked with an amused look on his face. It was clear she couldn't walk in those shoes, yet she was.

The more Neji noticed her walk, he couldn't help staring at her legs. They were long and lean with a light tan. This was ruined by Tenten stumbling all of a sudden. Neji, out of instinct, quickly got up and caught her before she could fall. The cup, however, smashed into tiny pieces.

"Uh...," Tenten said, lost in his clear eyes. This was the closest they've ever been.

"I think the word you're looking for is thank you," Neji said, still holding Tenten in his arms. She was blushing at how close they were.

"Ye- Neji Hyuuga, is that your hand on my butt?!" Tenten yelled in his face. He smirked before letting go of her. He could still smell strawberries in her hair.

"I see you still use the same shampoo," he said.

"What?" Tenten asked, confused by his sudden change of topic.

"Do you have a hearing problem?"

"No."

"Then how come I tell you something, you always say 'what?' I don't like to repeat myself," Neji said.

"I'm not deaf, if that's what you're saying. I'm just wondering why you said what you said," Tenten said.

"Well, it's true, isn't it? You still use the same shampoo from two years ago."

"Yeah. How do you know? Are you like an expert on hair Mr. Because I'm worth it?"

"So it was you who entered my room in the inn while I was gone," Neji said. "I thought something was out of place."

"At least I don't use women's shampoo," Tenten said.

"Loreal is not just a women's shampoo."

"Oh yeah? Then how come in all the commercials I see, there's always women advertising them?"

"Can you come and clean a mess?" Neji said, speaking on the phone to the cleaning department. "It's a coffee spill. There are pieces of a broken mug everywhere. Thank you," he said, hanging up. "You were saying?"

"Argh!" Tenten said, stomping away and almost falling again. "Calm down Tenten, there's no need to get so worked up about this."

"Are you talking to yourself?" Lee said, who was about to enter Neji's office to give him some documents.

"Yeah. And I can't stand these fuckin' shoes! They're killing me!" Tenten said and took them off. Out of anger, she threw them and they accidentally hit Lee. He fell dramatically to the floor.

"I'm okay," he said in the distant background. But by then, Tenten was already long gone.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe you were about to kill it," Shino said as he touched the spider in his hands. Ino had seen in crawling on the wall and screamed. Kiba was about to squash it when Shinio intervened.

"I can't believe you're stroking it," Chouji said.

"I can't believe we're even having this conversation," Sakura commented.

"Hey, what do we even do around here?" Tenten asked, bored. She was lying on the couch, barefoot.

"Whatever they tell us to do," Kiba answered.

"Kiba, give me a foot massage," Tenten said. He sighed and pretended not to hear her. "I said I want a foot massage! A G-rated foot massage!"

"No! Why don't you look around the building if you're so bored?" he said.

"Hmph, fine!" Tenten said, getting up.

"In that case, I'm coming as well," Ino said. "You too Sakura."

"Like I have a choice," she said.

"Wait, you can borrow my map. It's really easy to get lost around here. Take my word for it," Chouji said, giving Tenten the map.

"Um, okay, I guess," she said. The three of them left and Tenten unfolded the map. "Oh look! There's like 18 floors in this biulding."

"Who cares? There's a fashion desgin room on the 10th floor. You know what that means: clothes!" Ino said.

"Let's go there!" Sakura said, excited herself.

"Yeah, but let's take the stairs so it can seem like a little adventure. The room can be the X on the map and the clothes are our lose treasures," Tenten said smiling.

"Speaking of lost treasures, where are we?" Sakura asked. They had been walking into a dark corrider without realizing it.

"I don't know. This part of the floor isn't even on the map," Tenten said. "Wait! Let me see the back of this." She turned the map over and gulped.

"What?" Ino asked.

"This map was made in 1997! We're doomed!" Tenten yelled.

"1997?! This shit of a map is ten years old?!" Ino said.

"They weren't even done constructing this building in 1997," Sakura said.

"Hey, is that a door I see?" Ino pointed out. "Maybe it leads to somewhere...where there's people." The three of them quickly ran to the door and opened it. The room was dark and yet they walked in. No sooner were they inside when the door closed and they heard someone locking it.

"Hey, let us out!" Tenten yelled. It was so cramped inside and it smelled really bad.

"Sorry, but I can't do that," Temari said from the other side.

"Ugly Temari, it that you?! Open up bitch!" Ino said, pounding on the door.

"Hm, what was that? I can't hear you," she said, an evil smile on her pretty face.

"I know you can hear us!" Sakura said, feeling claustophobic.

"Temari, open this door this instant!" Tenten said.

"Hahaha!" Temari laughed. "Buh-bye darlings! I wonder when they're finally going to find you." She walked off, swinging the key around her finger.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was true that Shikamaru was a lazy guy, but he hated not getting things done on time. For example, right now he was supposed to read a document Neji faxed him. He didn't feel like reading it, so he was going to give it to Temari to read it. Problem was that she wasn't at her desk.

He sighed and walked to the intern's lounge. His best bud Chouji would have to do it. "Hey Chouji, would you mind reading this for me?" Shikamaru asked.

"Sure," Chouji said, grabbing the papers from Shikamaru's hands. "Uh...on second thought, I'd rather not," he said, noticing the small text and big words.

"Fine, I'll have one of the Troublesome Trio read it," Shikamaru said.

"If by Troublesome Trio you mean Ino, Sakura, and Tenten, then no. They're gone."

"Gone?"

"Yeah, they left like two hours ago and never came back."

"Isn't someone looking for them?" Shikamaru asked.

"No. They're turn up by the end of they day," Chouji said, opening a bag of chips.

"There you are! Shikamaru, didn't you hear? Neji wants us in his office. It's an important meeting concerning the new ad," Naruto said, popping his head in the room.

"Idiot, that was supposed to be a secret," Sasuke said beside him.

"Important meeting? Ugh, Temari never gives me the memos," Shikamaru said. "I'll see you later Chouji," he said, leaving. They hadn't been walking for a minute when Neji appeared.

"What took you so long? I've been waiting for ten minutes," he said impatiently. He had a folder with him.

"We had to go get Shikamaru," Sasuke said with a bored expression.

"Hey do you guys hear that?" Naruto asked, who had keen hearing.

"Hear what? I don't hear anything," Neji said.

"That thumping noise... it gets louder if I go this way," he said, walking more and more to the right.

"What about the meeting?" Shikamaru asked, although no one paid attention. They were following Naruto. "Argh, this is too troublesome," he said, following them as well.

"I can hear it now," Sasuke said. "I hear voices as well."

"It sounds like muffled screaming," Naruto said. "Hey Neji, is this place haunted with ghosts?"

"No it's not haunted. Stop asking stupid questions," Neji said.

"...HELP!..."

"GET US OUTTA HERE!"

"...OPEN THIS DOOR!"

"What the hell?" the four of them said in unison. They could now hear bangings on a certain door.

"It's this one!" Naruto pointed out.

"Hey, I think I heard someone," a girl said from inside the door (Tenten).

Naruto turned the doorknob, but it was locked. "The door's locked."

"Thanks for stating the obvious! Is that you Naruto?"

"What? How do you know my name?" he asked.

"It's me, Sakura!" she said. "Ino and Tenten are here too!"

"That bitch Temari locked us in!" Ino said.

"Temari locked you girls in?" Shikamaru said.

"Yes! Now get us out of here!" Tenten said.

"Stand back," Sasuke siad. He lifted his leg and kicked open the door with so much force. Sakura, Tenten, and Ino came tumbling down, taking Neji down with them. The papers in his folder flew everywhere.

It was an advertisement for a perfume _Shine _by famous designer Ami Ishida. In the ad there was a beautiful model wearing shiny, sparkly clothes and next to her was a guy model checking her out. It was your basic perfume ad, but with a touch of Hyuuga Interprise magic, it looked over the top.

"Get your hands off of me!" Neji said.

"RAPE! RAPE!" Naruto said, laughing.

The girls got off Neji and saw the ads lying on the ground. "No way, Ami Ishida is coming out with a new perfume!" Ino said.

"You guys aren't supposed to see the ad yet," Sasuke said, picking the papers up. "Ms. Ishida still doesn't know which company she wants to use for advertising her perfume."

"Although Hyuuga Interprise is ther top choice. You can't tell anyone that you saw the ad sample," Neji said.

"You know what, pretend you never even saw them," Naruto said.

"Why?" Tenten asked.

"Bacause we don't want other companies to steal our idea," Shikamaru explained. "I gotta go and find Temari. She is so in trouble," he said, walking away. Sakura and Tenten turned around to look at Ino, who was smiling.

"Speaking of companies, there's going to be a party next week where all the local business companies can socialize. It's going to be a big get-together. You three are all invited," Naruto said, handing them envelopes.

"Cool. Can we bring dates?" Sakura said.

"No, it's only for the workers," Naruto said.

"I think we should get going now. The meeting's been dalayed long enough," Neji said. He looked down at Tenten's bare feet. "You're not wearing any shoes," he stated.

"What? Oh. Hehe, well, the heels were really hurting my feet... and other people," Tenten answered. Neji smirked.

"Yeah Tenten, you're banned from ever wearing heels again," Ino said.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...and that is why I can never look at a banana the same way again," Toshi said. He had invited himself over to Tenten's house for dinner. She had just gotten home from working at Panda Express and had brought take-out.

"Interesting," Tenten said, stuffing a piece of chicken into her mouth.

DING-DONG!

"Did you invite someone over?" Toshi asked.

"Besides you inviting yourself over, then no, I didn't," she said.

DING-DONG!

"I'm coming! Geez!" Tenten said, opening the door. "Neji? What are you doing here?"

"You actually live here? I thought Ino and Sakura were only joking," he said.

"Answer the question."

"I came here to return these," he said, revealing her heels that she threw. "After Lee woke up, he told me they were yours. You're lucky he's not sueing. He has a big bump on the side of his head."

"Um...thanks," Tenten said nervously, grabbing the shoes from Neji. He looked so out of place standing at her doorway with his expensive suit.

"Yo Tenten, how come you never introduce me to your friends?" Toshi said.

"You live with this guy?" Neji asked stiffly, eyeing the two.

"No, he's just my landlord, more like my uncle really. He comes and goes like he pleases," Tenten said.

"I'm Toshi by the way," he said, shaking hands with Neji. He could see his own reflection on Toshi' s bald, shiny head.

"Nice to meet you Toshi...?"

"Oh, you don't need to know my last name."

"I'm Neji Hyuuga," he said.

"Rings a bell," Toshi said, playing with his goatee.

"Ok, now that you've met, you can leave now Toshi," Tenten said.

"Fine, but I'm taking my food with me," he said, grabbing his take-out box and leaving.

"So...are you going to the party next week?" Neji asked, trying to sound casual.

"Are you asking me to be your date?"

"No," he said, looking insulted. "I was just wondering so I could know whether or not to wear my boots. I wouldn't want you to step on my feet with you pointy heels."

"Believe me, I'm laughing on the inside," Tenten said sarcastically.

"Well, see you tomorrow Panda Girl," Neji said.

"Yeah, see y- wait, I am NOT a Panda Girl!" Tenten said.

Neji touched one of Tenten's buns. "Yes you are," he said, walking away. For some strange reason, they way he said it made Tenten blush. He had been looking straight at her and smirked that annoying (yet sexy) smirk of his.

Tenten mentally groaned. She shouldn't have been thinking about Neji in that way at all. He was a jackass after all, wasn't he?

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**A/N: Sorry for the late update. It's been like almost a month. You see that "GO" button? Click on it! It wants you to click on it! **


	5. The Leakage

**A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed! Sorry for the late update! **

**Chapter 5- The Leakage**

**(No, not a pipe leakage, you'll see what it is)**

"Wow! This par-tay is amazing!" Tenten said. She, Sakura, and Ino had arrived at the business socializing party together. All the rival companies of Hyuuga Interprise were there, including the biggest one: Michido, Inc.

"Oh, look! Free food!" Tenten said.

"No Tenten. You just can't eat when you barely arrive. It sends guys the wrong message," Ino said.

"Yeah, you are so lucky that we are here to show you how to mingle at a party like this," Sakura said.

"Mingle?" Tenten asked.

"You can't just talk to anybody," Sakura said.

"Like that guy over there," Ino said, pointing to a man wearing his shirt tucked in, glasses, and a neon green pocket protector. "Total geek."

"Okay, I think I know who I'm not allowed to talk to," Tenten said. "I think I'll get a drink. How much do you think they cost?"

"Tenten, you never buy a drink! It's always the guy," Ino said.

"Guy? What guy?"

"Exactly. You need to find a guy to buy you a drink," Sakura said. She looked around the room and spotted someone. "Ooo, hottie at ten o'clock."

"Where?" Ino and Tenten said. Then they saw him. He had dark, curly hair and dark green, mysterious eyes. He was wearing black pants and a gray form-fitting sweater.

"I'm going to go talk to him," Sakura said.

"You're gonna talk to him? I can't wait to laugh," Ino said.

"You think he's out of my league? I mean, he's a nine and I'm an eight," she said.

"Puh-leeze! He's a ten and you're a six," Ino said.

"Ah! You're a bitch and I'm a seven," Sakura said, leaving to talk to the hot man.

"Did you hear what she said to me?" Ino said offended.

"Yes. Let's go talk to...Neji," Tenten said, seeing him across the room. She and Ino walked over to him. "Hey Neji! How's it going?"

"I see you decided to wear flats tonight. Good choice," Neji said.

"And I see you decided to bring your arrogance here tonight," Tenten said smiling.

"Oh! What is Temari doing here?" Ino cut in.

"She works at Hyuuga Interprise. Technically, she can come here," Neji said, but Ino wasn't listening.

"So, did you come here all by yourself?" Tenten asked. "I bet you couldn't find a date that could stand being with you for five minutes."

"Actually," Neji said, "I came here with supermodel Yota Tuzikaru. She's in the bathroom powdering her nose."

"S-Supermodel?" Tenten said, stuttering.

"Yes."

"Wait, did you say she's in the bathroom right now?" Ino asked excitedly. Neji nodded his head. Ino squealed and ran off to the ladie's room.

"Wow, so she must be like really pretty and tall," Tenten said, more to herself than to Neji. _'No way I can compare to her. I'm like a plain Jane next to he_r' Tenten thought.

"She is," Neji said. Right then, a young woman with long auborn hair and hazel eyes came over to Neji. She was dressed in high-fashion clothes that looked like they came straight out of a magazine. They probably did. She looked beautiful, until she opened her mouth.

"Nejiiiii!" she whined. "You didn't tell me there'd be so much food here! It's tempting me and I feel so disgusted by all of it," Yota said. Neji didn't respond to her complaints.

"Neji! Are you even list-."

"Yes, I'm listening," he said, rather annoyed.

"Who are you?" Yota snapped at Tenten.

"I'm Tenten. Tenten Tyzuka," she said, outstretching her hand. When Yota didn't shake it, Tenten moved her hand to her head, pretending to be smoothing down her hair. _'Rude'_ she thought.

"Well, you're not famous, so I can't be seen talking to you," Yota said, pushing Tenten to the side and posing for the photographers that had just shown up. She grabbed Neji and used him as a prop. She put her arm around his shoulder and blew kisses to the camera. Then Yota yanked Neji's arm and placed it around her skinny waist. The whole thing looked really posed, even the fake kiss Yota planted on Neji's cheek (still facing the cameras).

Tenten watched the whole thing with a dazed look. There were camera flashes everywhere and somehow she was sitting on the ground. The photographers were yelling encouraging words.

"What are you doing on the ground?" asked Sakura.

"Uh...what happened to the guy you were talking to?" Tenten asked, getting up. Sakura looked a bit upset.

"We were having a wonderful conversation and then he just left," she said outraged. "Where's Ino?" she said, changing the subject.

"My guess, Yota probably locked her in one of the bathroom stalls," Tenten said.

"You mean the supermodel?" Sakura asked. Tenten nodded her head and pointed to where she was.

"Ohmigod!" Sakura said. "Wait, is she going out with Neji?"'

"Does it look like I know? They just came here together. It's probably a publicity stunt...I hope," Tenten said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Jealous?"

"No!" Tenten exclaimed. "She can have him for all I care. Neji is such a jackass!"

"A hot jackass," Sakura added. Tenten silently agreed with her in her mind.

"Is that Ino I see...with the guy you were with earlier?" Tenten said, spotting her. The two of them were sitting _really _close and they were laughing.

"Yeah. I think they're just talking. You know, this is a socializing party, meant for us to socialize with other people...from other businesses," Sakura said heatedly.

"Geez, no need to get all upset about it. What business does he work in?"

"Michido, Inc.," Sakura said quietly.

"Tell me you're joking! That hunk of meat is out #1 enemy!" Tenten said.

"That 'hunk' has a name. It's Keito Chang," Sakura said.

"I don't care what his name is. That guy, Keito, works at our rival company," Tenten emphasized.

"I know! Do you have to remind me?" Sakura said. "Let's just go find some guys to buy us drinks," she said, walking over to the bar. Tenten followed her.

An hour later and Tenten felt a bit tipsy. Several guys she didn't even know had insisted on buying her a drink. One drink turned into two, and so on. Sakura was off somewhere, leaving Tenten alone at the bar, sitting on a chair.

"Hey," a guy said, plopping down on the empty chair next to hers. Tenten looked at him and saw that it was Keito.

"What? I don't even get a cute, flirty smile from you?" he asked.

"What do you want?" Tenten asked, sighing.

"I just wanted to talk to you and buy you a margarita," Keito said, ordering two drinks for the both of them. "My name is Keito by the way. What's yours?"

"Tenten," she said.

"Now Tenten, I don't say this to just anybody, but have you ever considered modeling?"

"No,"she said.

"Well, you should. You have a pretty face and you're tall," Keito said, smiling at her.

_'Is he flirting with me?'_ Tenten thought, blushing. _'He's trying waaay too hard though.'_

"Um, I don't think so. I'm really busy at the moment," Tenten said.

"Oh, I didn't know working at Hyuuga Interprise was so hectic."

"How do you know I work there?"

"I saw you talking to Neji Hyuuga. Are you two close?" Keito asked.

"No," Tenten said, blushing again.

"I meant, does he tell you all the business deals that are going on? Campaigns? Advertisements? That sort of stuff," he said.

"Kinda. I know for a fact Hyuuga Interprise is doing the ad for the new perfume by Ami Ishida," Tenten said.

"Really?" Keito said interested.

"Yeah," she said," I even saw it myself."

"How does the ad look like?" he asked. "It's probably amazing and over the top."

"I guess. There's this girl and guy who seem to be into each other," Tenten said, taking a sip from her drink. "Kinda cheesy, but it'll probably sell."

"Well Tenten, it was a pleasure talking to you, but I must be on my way," Keito said, getting up from his seat. He grabbed Tenten's hand and kissed it before walking away. Tenten grabbed a napkin and desperately tried to wipe her hands.

"Tenten, it's so nice to see you," Hinata said, spotting her.

"Same here. Remind me never to let myself drink more than two glasses of alcohol while on a business party. I don't even remember half of the people I talked to," Tenten said. Hinata giggled.

"Oh, you always make me laugh! So does Naruto. That's why I like him so much," Hinata said.

"You really love him, don't you?" Tenten asked. Hinata blushed.

"Yes," she answered quietly. "I'm hoping he'll ask me to marry him. But my father says I'm way too young to be thinking about marraige."

"How old are you?" Tenten asked.

"I'm eighteen and Naruto's twenty.We started going out last year," Hinata said. "How about you?"

"Hm?"

"Are you with anyone?"

"Me? No," Tenten said.

"That's too bad. Don't worry, your perfect guy is probably in this room. You just don't know it yet," Hinata said, trying to cheer her up.

"Maybe," Tenten said absentmindedly, watching Neji from across the room.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"God, my head hurts!" Tenten said the next day at work. She was at the lounge along with the other interns.

"Looks like you have a hangover," Kiba said. He himself didn't look too good either.

"I didn't even want to go to work today," Ino said. She was sitting on the couch.

RING! RING!

"Hello," Chouji said, picking up the phone. "Yeah. Right now? Room 26B, got it. Bye."

"Yo guys, there's an emergency meeting in room 26B. Everyone who works on floor 6, this floor to be exact, has to go. That means us," Chouji explained.

"Are you kidding me?" Tenten asked.

"A meeting this early in the morning?" Sakura said.

"Yeah. It sounded important though. I think one of us is getting in trouble," he said.

"Someone wake up Shino. He's totally out of it," Kiba said.

"I ain't touching bug boy, you wake him, you know him longer," Ino said.

"Girl, you're closer," Kiba said.

In defeat, Ino grabbed a pencil and was about to poke Shino with it. Before she did, she came up with a brilliant idea.

"Hey, have you seen Shino without his sunglasses?" Ino asked.

"No, everyone answered.

"Well, isn't this a perfect opportunity," Ino said. She dropped the pencil and reached for Shino's sunglasses. Just when she was about to grab them, a hand shot out and grabbed a hold of her wrist.

"Don't. Touch. The. Shades," Shino said darkly.

"Aaaahh! Shino, let go! You're hurting my circulation!" Ino screamed.

"Shino, release," Sakura said. Shino released the hold he had on her wrist.

"Ooookay. Awkward moment," Tenten said. "Let's go to this stupid meeting." Together they all walked towards the room. There were already other people there. Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto were at the front of the room.

Shikamaru was the first to speak. "Listen up! I know most of you have hangovers and you all don't want to be here. Trust me, neither do I. _But, _it looks like we have a situation on our hands," he said. Everyone started to whisper.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Sakura said.

"Me too," Tenten said. Ino was biting her nails. In fact, a lot of people in the room looked somewhat nervous.

"Someone in this building-," Sasuke said.

"Or even in this room," Naruro said, cutting him off.

"Dobe, stop interrupting me," he said.

"Both of you shut up already! Can't you see we have a crisis?" Neji said.

"Sorry," Naruto and Sasuke mumbled.

"Anyways," Shikamaru said," turns out someone leaked the ad info last night at the party."

"To a spy from Michido Inc.," Neji added.

"His name was," Sasuke said, looking at his clipboard," Keito Chang.

Tenten, Ino, and Sakura gulped.

"Now, we're not suspecting any of you," Neji said,"but we will have to interrogate you all about the events of last night."

"The interrogation will be my job," Sasuke said. "I will call up each group and when you're cleared-."

"If you're cleared," Naruto mumbled.

"-you can go on with your work," Sasuke finsished.

"You are all dismissed," Neji said. Everyone quickly left the room in a hurry, chatting and gossiping.

"Who was the idiot who leaked the information?" Kiba said.

"What makes you think it was an idiot?" Tenten asked nervously.

"Well, only an idiot would tell a rival company about their company's campaigns," Kiba said. Sakura bonked him on the head. "Oww! What the hell?"

"Sorry, my hand slipped," Sakura muttered.

"On my head?" Kiba said.

"Something strange is going on," Shino spoke. Everyone turned to look at him. "And I don't like it."

"Sooo, when do you think we'll get called?" Chouji asked, changing the subject.

"Hopefully not until a long time," Ino said, eating a chocolate bar.

"Ino! You're actually eating something fattening!" Tenten said. Ino shrugged.

"Um... Tenten, Ino, come with me. We need to talk in private," Sakura said. The three of them walked to the ladie's room, which was luckily empty. "Ino, I know for a fact you eat when you're nervous. So something's up. And Tenten, you've been acting more weird than usual."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tenten said, crossing her arms.

"I, too, have something bugging me and I'll just say it," Sakura said, taking a deep breath," I told Keito about the ad."

Tenten and Ino fake gasped. "Shame on you Sakura," Ino said, rubbing her two index fingers together.

"Well, see ya! It was nice knowing you," Tenten said, beginning to leave.

"Oh no you don't! I know you two had something to do with this as well," Sakura said.

"Fine! I admit it. I kinda told Keito some stuff," Tenten said.

"Yeah, me too," Ino said.

"We are so fired!" Sakura wailed.

"Not unless we don't say anything and keep our mouths shut," Tenten said.

"You mean lie?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. That's brilliant Tenten," Ino said, biting into her second chocolate bar.

"Thanks. I have my moments sometimes," she said.

"Okay, I'll l-lie," Sakura said.

Dun dun dun dun.

------------------------------------------------------------------

RING! RING! RING!

"Shit! They're on to us!" Sakura said when the phone rang. Luckily it was just the three of them in the room when the phone rang.

"Relax Sakura, it's probably Neji calling for his cup of coffee," Tenten said, picking the phone up.

"Hello," Tenten answered.

"Tenten. Coffee. Now," Neji said.

"Someone's in a bad mood," she said.

"You have no idea. It's been hectic here, nothing but chaos," he said.

"R-Right," Tenten said, stuttering. "I'll bring your c-coffee in a minute."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Wonderful weather we're having today, don't you think? Bye!" she said, hanging up. She got out her emergency inhaler and puffed twice on it.

"I didn't know you had asthma!" Ino said, eating oreo cookies.

"I don't," Tenten said. She got out Neji's preferred mug and filled it with hot coffee. She walked all the way to his office and it seemed like everyone she passed by were watching her. Like they knew.

She opened Neji's door quietly, but stopped when she heard voices talking inside the office. She poked her head in so she could see Neji, but Neji couldn't see her. Sasuke was there.

"...did you tell him yet?" Sasuke asked.

"No, of course not. He's be disappointed in me if he found out," Neji said.

"It would be quite a scandal."

"Shut up. I'm already stressed as it is," Neji said, rubbing his neck.

"Something wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah. I have a stiff neck that I can't get," he said.

"Here," Sasuke offered, getting behind Neji and putting his pale hands on Neji's neck and massaging it.

_'OH MY GOD! NEJI AND SASUKE...THEY'RE GAY! NOOO!!' _Tenten thought as she stared. '_Damn! And I thought I had a good gaydar.'_

She closed the door and walked away. She accidentally left the cup of coffee still on the floor outside Neji's office.

"This feels awkward," Neji said.

"It sure does," Sasuke said, stopping.

"Never do that again. Ever."

"I won't say anything if you won't. Anyways, I gotta go and continue with the interrogations," Sasuke said, walking to the door.

"You got the easy job. I have to think of a whole new idea for the ad. That is, if Ami Ishida still wants to work with us. Damn those peope at Michido, Inc.!" Neji said.

"Argh! What the-," Sasuke said. He had spilled the coffee all over the carpet and his shoes. "What is this doing here?" he said, lifting the mug from the floor.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"There was a whole lot of man handling, if you know what I mean," Tenten said, exaggerating on the details.

"No!" Sakura said.

"And I used to be so good on reading the signs," Ino said, stuffing her face with barbeque chips.

"That's what I said," Tenten replied.

"But Sasuke's too gorgeous to be gay," Sakura said.

"And Neji isn't?" Tenten asked.

"Tenten, you have it bad," Sakura said.

"Totally," Ino chimed in.

"What! No I don't!" Tenten exclaimed. Both Ino and Sakura raised their eyebrows.

"So Neji's just good eye candy for you," Ino said.

"He's not a piece of meat," Tenten said defensively. "He may be a cold bastard sometimes-"

"Most of the times," Sakura put in.

"-but I know there's something inside him that's waiting to melt that cool exterior," Tenten finished.

"And to top it all off, he's gay!" Ino said.

"Who's gay?" Kiba asked, coming in with Shino and Chouji.

"Ooo, chips!" Chouji said, reaching into Ino's bag for a munch.

"Grr! Get your own!" Ino growled menacingly.

"The girl does _not _joke about her chips," Sakura said.

"You know, I don't like being ignored. Can someone answer my question? Who's gay?" Kiba said.

"Oh, no one," Tenten said, lying.

"Oh, that is so like you. Keeping all the juicy gossip to yourself," Kiba said.

"Dams, I'm out of chips! I'll be back," Ino said as she left, going somewhere to buy more snacks.

"Tons of people have gotten cleared," Chouji said. "'No one knows who did it and it's freaking Sasuke out. He thought he'd find the culprit by now."

"I don't get what the big hype is all about. Just because someone leaked the ad, everyone is going crazy," Sakura said.

"It could cost Hyuuga Interprise millions of dollars if they lose the perfume campaign," Chouji said.

"Urgh! Can we talk about something else, please?" Tenten said. Just then, Neji came into the room.

"Ah, there you are," he said to Tenten.

"What?" she asked.

"Why did you leave my coffee on the floor...outside my office? The janitor's not happy with you by the way," Neji said.

"Shit! I completely forgot, I was distracted," Tenten said.

"By what?" he asked. Everyone leaned in to hear their conversation better. Tenten inhaled from her inhaler before answering.

"Uhh...stop looking at me! You're making me nervous!" she exclaimed. She felt all hot inside. Everyone backed off, except for Neji. He came closer, scrutinizing her.

"You're hiding something. I can sense it," he stated.

"No I'm not," Tenten said.

"Then how come you're not looking me in the eye?"

"Damn!" she muttered under her breath. Tenten glanced at Neji. He was smirking at her, his eyes set on hers.

Kiba coughed. "I don't mean to interrupt this wonderful moment you two are having, but it's almost lunchtime, and you're blocking our way," he said.

"My fault," Neji said, moving to the left and leaving the doorway open. Everybody quickly left the room in a hurry. Tenten was about to leave as well when Neji grabbed her wrist.

"Would you mind telling me what it is you are hiding away from me?" he asked. Tenten couldn't tell him the truth, he'd be so mad at her.

"I saw you and Sasuke in your office," Tenten said. Neji raised an eyebrow at her. "I saw him-"

Neji groaned. "I thought the door was closed."

"It was. How come you didn't tell me you were gay? I mean, you went out with Yota. What was up with that?"

"I'm not gay," Neji said.

"Huh? B-But I heard yuo two talking and then Sasuke gave you a neck massage," Tenten said, confused.

"We were talking about the leakage and how my uncle would be disappointed in me losing a business deal," Neji explained.

"Your uncle?"

"Yes. He's the main owner of this company and he's going to be retiring soon. I'll be taking his place."

"Oh. So then, what was up with the massage?"

"Uchiha is taking some massage lessons to impress someone. He was just showing off his new skills. In my opinion, it was the worst massage I ever had," Neji said.

"God, I feel stupid," Tenten said, laughing.

"Is there anything else you want to confess since we're being all honest here," Neji said.

"No, that's about it," Tenten lied.

"Well, if you say so. I'll see you later," he said leaving. Tenten quickly walked to where Sakura and Ino were waiting for her.

"Girls, we're going to church," Tenten announced.

------------------------------------------------------------

"I haven't been to church in a long time," Ino said.

"Me neither. I'm not very religious," Tenten said. "But desperate times call for desperate measures."

"Hey Sakura, can we eat in the house of the Lord?" Ino asked.

"I think so," Sakura said. Ino got out a granola bar from her purse and began to eat it.

"Okay, so we just kneel in front of the alter and pray, right?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah. At least I went to Church school when I was a kid," Sakura said.

"Do you remember the old priest? What a total pervert!" Ino said.

"Ino! I don't think you can say pervert here," Sakura said.

"Geez. I wasn't even swearing."

"Let's go do this," Tenten said, kneeling on one of the pews and clasping her hands together, her eyes closed. Ino and Sakura did the same thing.

_'Dear God, sorry I haven't prayed like in...wait, I'm eighteen and the last time I was eight, so...oh, it's been ten years! I am so sorry God!' _Tenten thought. _'I just want to say that I have lied and betrayed recently. I hope you can forgive me. Oh yeah, and please make sure Neji succeeds when he takes over the business.'_

_'Oh Lord, I have committed a serious sin. Let me be cleansed, purified, and some other holy stuff' _Sakura thought. _'Nothing good can come out of lying. I'm not a good liar! And also, I'm sorry that I helped Ino put glue on Temari's chair. Actually, I'm not. She deserved it and it was funny seeing the expression on her face.'_

"God, I don't know what to say," Ino said.

"Ino, you're suppose to say it in your head, not out loud," Tenten whispered to her.

"Oh, right," she said.

_'All I know is that I have broken one of the seven deadly sins: gluttony. I should not be eating so much food, but I'm extremely nervous. It's all because I have lied. Yup. So please repent my sin so I can be clean again, although I'm pretty sure I'mgoing to Hell for all the crazy stuff I've done' _Ino thought.

"Amen," the three of them said in unison.

"Alright. I feel a bit better. Less guilty," Sakura said.

"Let's go," Ino said. The three of them returned to work after their lunch break was over.

"Yes! We've been cleared!" Kiba said.

"How was it? The interrogation, I mean," Tenten asked.

"Brutal," Kiba replied.

"They should be calling you three soon," Chouji said.

"How soon?" Sakura asked.

RING! RING!

"That soon," Chouji said, picking up the phone. "Uh-huh. Yeah, I'll tell them." He hung up. "You need to report to Sasuke's office."

Tenten, Ino, and Sakura nodded their heads. They quickly walked out of the lounge to talk freely.

"Ohmygod! Ohmygod!" Tenten said, panicking. "Where's my inhaler?! Oh, here it is."

"I can't do it! I just prayed to God that I wouldn't lie!" Sakura said.

"We won't lie," Ino said.

"Pig-eating blonde said what?" Tenten said.

"We'll tell him the truth. Temari did it," Ino said, pressing the elevator button. Sasuke's office was one floor up, just like Neji's.

"But that's still a lie," Sakura said.

"Just tell Sasuke that you saw Temari talking to Keito," Ino said. "In fact, we should all say that so our stories match."

"Okay," Tenten said, stepping out of the elevator. They walked to Sasuke's office, knocking on the door.

"Come in," he said. They opened the door and walked in. Sasuke looked cool as a cucumber. "Aah. The troubleseom trio, or so Shikamaru says."

"Ugly Temari did it!" Sakura blurted out. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"We saw the two of them talking, if you know what I mean," Ino said. "It surprised me too. Who would have thought Temari would be capable of betraying Hyuuga Interprise?"

"Yeah. So Sasuke, go easy on her," Tenten said. "She was probably drunk that she doesn't even remember she told Keito."

"I'm glad tha-."

"Argh! That's it! I can't take it anymore! Sasuke, I told Keito about the ad, but it was an accident I swear!" Sakura said.

"Sak-," Sasuke saiad, getting cut off again.

"It just slipped out. He was so charming," Sakura said. "But I only told him a small detail about the ad, so I don't know how he knew the whole thing."

"That's because Temari slept with him and told Keito everything," Sasuke said.

"WHAT?!" Ino, Sakura, and Tenten shrieked.

"Yeah. Keito called me before you all came in. He told me what really happened," Sasuke said.

"So it really was Temari?" Tenten asked. Sasuke nodded his head.

"Sakura, I really appreciate your honesty," he said.

"Thanks," Sakura said, blushing.

"In that case, I also told Keito a few stuff about the ad," Tenten said.

"Me too," Ino said. "So, is Temari getting fired?"

"Yes, I think Shikamaru is telling her the news right now."

"Oh yeah! The witch is gone!" Ino said.

"So that's it?' Sakura asked.

"You can leave now. I've got so much stuff to do," he said. They walked out of his office, a great weight lifting off their shoulders.

"Whew! We are so lucky we didn't get in trouble," Tenten said.

"Sasuke is so nice!" Sakura said.

"Um, nice? I wouldn't go so far as to say that," Tenten said.

"Because you have your heart set on Neji," Ino said. Tenten blushed. "Too bad he's gay."

"He's not gay," Tenten said, explaining to them.

"It totally makes sense now!" Ino said.

"Sakura!" Lee called out, a few feet away from them.

"Shit. Hide me," Sakura said, getting behind Tenten.

"We can't. He already saw you," Tenten said.

"Sakura, I've been looking for you. Neji thought up of a new idea for an ad and he told me to find the most beautiful girl I could find. And that would be you," Lee said.

"Me? What for?" Sakura asked curiously.

"His model," he answered. Sakura squealed in delight.

"Seriously?!" she said, jumping up and down.

"Sakura, I am sooo jealous," Ino said. "Lee, is it because I'm fat? I knew I shouldn't have eaten so much."

"I just think Sakura is very beautiful. Come on, let's tell Neji," Lee said. They headed towards Neji's office with Ino and Tenten trailing behind.

"Neji! I have found you your model!" Lee exclaimed as he pointed at Sakura, who had just striked a pose.

"No," Neji said after he looked at Sakura.

"What! Why not?" Sakura said.

"Well for starters...1) You're a midget, yes you heard me so stop giving me that look.You know it's true. And 2) You have PINK hair. I'm sorry but the world ain't ready for a Sakura Haruno."

"Hey, at least you remembered my last name," she said.

"Please, don't flatter yourself," Neji said. "I need someone who is tall, thin, somewhat pretty. I need...Tenten!"

Tenten looked up from biting her nails. "Hm?"

"You Tenten, you're my model," Neji declared.

"Rea- wait, what was that about being somewhat pretty?" Tenten said. Neji ignored that last comment.

"Now, can everyone please leave so Tenten and I can discuss the photoshoot?" Neji said. Lee, Ino, and Sakura all left with sour looks on their faces.

"So you're serious? I really am going to be the model for the ad?" Tenten asked.

"Yes. The photoshoot is tomorroe at seven. You need to be here by five thirty."

"P.m?" Tenten asked hopefully.

"No, a.m.," Neji answered.

"You've got to be kidding. That's insanity."

"Meet me and the photo crew in the studio room. That's on floor 10. And don't be late," Neji said. "This is so last minute and you're our only hope."

"What about your girlfriens Yota? Why isn't she modeling?" Tenten asked.

"Yota? Oh, she flew to Malaysia today early in the morning. She had a photoshoot to do and besided, she's booked," he said.

"So she is your girlfriend?" Tenten said, since that was all she really cared about knowing. Neji snorted.

"She was never my girlfriend. I just needed a date for the party. It's quite sad if you go to those kinf of functions alone. Plus, the paparazzi was there. It made good press."

"I see," Tenten said, crossing her arms. "Well, if I'm going to be waking up at the crack of dawn, I should be getting my booty rest."

"Booty rest? Don't you mean beauty rest?" Neji asked.

"No, I meant booty rest. It takes some serious sleep to make my butt look this good," Tenten said. Neji's gaze couldn't help but linger on Tenten's butt. He had to admit that she had an axceptionally fine ass. Then something totally unexpected happened.

Just as Tenten was walking away (more like strutting away) she slapped her butt right in front of Neji, leaving him speechless and gaping like a fish out of water.

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**A/N: Review, review, review! We'd appreciate some constructive criticsm. **


	6. Under The Stars Tongiht

**A/N: We are soooooo sorry for not updating like in forever. We were having a hard time trying to write this chapter because we wanted it to be perfect. (If you haven't noticed, we're perfectionists). Again, we are so sorry! But anyways, here is the long-waited for chapter. Enjoy!!**

**Chapter 6- Under the Stars Tonight **

Tenten was definitely not a morning person. She never was. When she was a little girl, she would throw things against the wall, waking her parents as well. Only this time, her neighbors were complaining.

"Five thirty! Who the hell wakes up this early for a photoshoot?! Is this even worth it?" Tenten said to herself, blow drying her hair. She had been awake since four thirty to take a shower. Her digital clock read 5:12. Quickly she put on her sweatshirt and ran out the door. Amazingly, there were taxis out at this time. Tenten successfully flagged one down and got in.

"Where to?" the driver asked. She was a woman.

"Hyuuga Interprise," she said. "And step on it m'am. I have a photoshoot to get to A.S.A.P.!"

"A photoshoot?" the woman said, driving. "Are you the hair-stylist or make-up artist?"

"Neither," Tenten said. "I'm the model."

The taxi driver had to do a double take. "Are you sure they didn't lie to you sweetie?"

Tenten gasped. "What's that supposed to mean?" She was not in the mood to be starting beef with this woman.

"She better hope I don't find her out on the streets," Tenten muttered to herself once she was out of the cab. She entered the building and got in an elevator. She got off the 10th floor and headed towards the studio room. Tenten opened the door and made her entrance.

"I'm here!" she said, outstretching her arms at either side.

"You're late," Neji stated.

"But it's only 5:31," Tenten said, looking at the clock.

"Exactly. You were supposed to be here at 5:30. You're one minute late," he said.

"But it's just one minute," Tenten said. "I don't think tha - is that coffee?" She went to the coffee machine and oured herself a cup. The studio room was big, she noticed. There were people busy building a set and stylists going through clothes racks.

"Tenten, you're supposed to go to hair and make-up," Neji told her, getting a cup of coffee as well.

"Right. Where is that exactly?" Tenten asked, confused.

"Over there," Neji said, pointing to where the make-up people were set up. "Did you get enough booty sleep?" he asked, smirking.

Tenten started to blush. "Oh yes, my butt had a pleasant butt dream last night," she said jokingly. "My butt had a fight with JLO's butt. I guess you can imagine who won."

Neji was trying so hard not to laugh. Being around Tenten, she made it hard not to. In an effortless attempt, he ended up smiling, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

"Well, I better go. The hairdresser lady is looking at me funny," Tenten said.

"Yeah, me too. I have to supervise the shoot," Neji said, walking away with his cup of coffee. Tenten went to get her hair done.

"Do you always wear your hair in two buns?" the hairstylist asked. She had a nose piercing and her hair was five different colors.

"Um, yeah. Ever since I was seven," Tenten answered.

"Why don't you sit down. My name's Nami," she said.

"I'm Tenten."

"What an interesting name. Your name is going to bring you a lot of attention when you're famous," Nami said.

"I doubt that. I'm more like the last resort," Tenten said.

"Well, maybe they don't know talent when they see it. Tenten, take this as a compliment, you have a fresh face," Nami said. She took out Tenten's elastics off and her sair cascaded down to her waist in brown waves. "Damn girl, you have _really _long hair."

"You're not going to cut it off are you?" Tenten asked.

"No, I like your hair. I'm just going to straighten it for the photoshoot," Nami said, grabbing a straightener. Thirty minutes later and Tenten's hair was completely straight. Her bangs were styled to one side. She was running her hands through it, feeling how smooth her hair was.

"Thanks Nami! My hair looks awesome," Tenten said.

"Yeah, here's Daisuke. He's going to put on your make-up," Nami said. Tenten turned her head to see a guy with blonde highlights and really tight leather pants.

"Ohmygod Tenten! I can't wait to hook you up. You're going to look gorgeous when I'm through with you," Daisuke said.

"Good to hear," Tenten said nervously.

After Daisuke finished applying her make-up, he turned the chair around so Tenten could see herself in the mirror. "I... I look...," she said, at a loss for words.

"Three words honey. Fab-u-lous!" Daisuke said, snapping his fingers on each syllable.

Tenten could barely recognize the person she was looking at. Her eyes were coated with gold eyeshadow and Daisuke had glues on fake eyelashed. Her cheeks were pinker than usual with a rosy blush and her lips were shiny and sparkly with a goldish tint to them.

"You'd turn any gay man straight with that look, mm-hm," Daisuke said.

"Uh...thanks?" Tenten said, giving him a weird look.

"What size are you?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" Tenten said, covering her chest.

"Your dress size. What is it?" Daisuke asked again.

"Four, I think," she said. They walked over to the clothes rack, where there were many gold colored dresses."What's up with all the gold?" Tenten asked.

"It's for the photoshoot. Supposedly, you're suppose to be a star," Daisuke said, looking for a size four dress.

"Really?! Which one? Scarlett Johansson? I love her!" Tenten said.

"No, not a star like a celebrity. A star like, you know, a star in space," Daisuke explained.

"Oh," Tenten said. "I'm not even going to be human?"

"Here's your dress," Daisuke said, handing her a strapless floor-length gold dress.

"Wow! It's so expensive-looking," Tenten exclaimed, admiring the fabric of the dress. "Where's the changing station?"

"There isn't one," Daisuke siad, grabbing a nail filer from his man-purse and filing his nails.

"Good thing I decided to wear a strapless bra today," Tenten said, removing her shirt. She was used to undressing in front of girls (_People like Daisuke are in the same category, right?_ Tenten thought)because of P.E.

The dress looked stunning on Tenten. It hugged her every curve. "Girl, you're going to make him drool," Daisuke said.

"What are you talking about?" Tenten asked.

"Neji Hyuuga. You're trying to impress that fabulous hunk of meat. Aren't you?" he said, inspecting his nails. He chewed on one of them. "Ugh, I do not remember eating that."

"I'm not trying to impress Neji!" Tenten said, blushing. "I'm only doing this because he asked me to."

"Riiiight. You do know he could have picked any other girl to model, but he chose you," Daisuke said.

"Because I'm tall."

"I'm sure that's not the only reason."

"Okay, where's my model?" the photographer of the shoot asked.

"Here," Tenten said, making her way to the set.

"T-Tenten?" Neji said, stuttering as he saw her. With make-up on and her hair down, she looked so different. "Is that really you?" He looked her up and down, admiring the way the dress clung to her in all the right places. '_I've always thought Tenten was pretty, but I was wrong. She's beautiful' _Neji thought.

"Yes, beneath all this glamerous exterior, I'm still me. And stop staring! You're making me nervous," Tenten said.

"Tenten, you forgot your shoes!" Daisuke called out. Tenten winced.

"Right, the shoes. Hehe. Are they really necessary?" she said, eyeing the heels.

"Yes," Daisuke said matter-of-factly. Tenten signed and slipped them on. They matched her dress.

"Okay, now that we're ready, let's do this," the photographer announced, grabbing his camera. "Remember Tenten, the slogan is 'Shine like a star tonight.' The background is of the sky at night with all the stars out, and you're the center of attention."

"Here's the perfume," one of the crew people said, handing it to her. It was in a small bottle.

"Um...I've never done this before," Tenten said.

"Tenten, chillax," Daisuke said.

"You're going to do great. Trust me," Neji said, patting her bare shoulder. Her skin felt soft and smooth. He wondered if all her body felt like that.

"Thanks Neji," Tenten said with a nervous smile. "For believing in me."

"Why would I pick you if I didn't believe you were going to do a wonderful job?" Neji said smirking. "Just go and 'do your thang.' "

"I can't believe you just said that," she said, laughing. But it eased her up...a bit.

Tenten was really photogenic. The camera seemed to love her. In almost all her frames, she came out looking stunning, while still selling the perfume. The photographer kept yelling encouraging words at her. Surprisingly, Tenten was enjoying being in the spotlight; the focus of everyone's attention, including a certain white-eyed man.

Neji was watching in awe, not blinking, afraid to miss a single moment. Tenten's body moved with grace as she changed her poses. Their eyes met briefly, as Tenten gave him a small smile. But her eyes held a deep intensity.

CLICK!

"There! I think I got it! The perfect shot," the photographer said, capturing the moment. "Thanks Tenten. I think we're finished now. Good job everybody."

Tenten handed the perfume to a lady and quickly took off her shoes. She sighed in relief. "Ohmigod Neji! That was so much fun!" she said.

"Yeah. You're a natural," he said. He looked down at his feet as he said," Um, listen. I was wondering that if you weren't busy or anything then you wouldn't mind going out with me." Neji looked up in horror to see that Tenten was gone. Standing there in her place was Daisuke!

"Oh Neji, that's so thoughtful! I'd love to, but I can't. Can we reschedule?" Daisuke said.

"Hell no!" Neji said, walking away in embarrassment.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"So Tenten, how was your photoshoot?" Ino asked when she and Sakura arrived in the lounge.

"Yeah, tell us all about it. I want all the details," Sakura said.

"What were you wearing?" Ino asked, interested to knoe.

"You guys ask too many questions. But I'm happy to answer," Tenten said. Her hair was already back in her signature buns and she removed all that heavy make-up. She liked the way she looked during the photoshoot, but it was too fake. Tenten explained to Ino and Sakura (in perfect detail) what happened during the photoshoot.

"Wow!" Sakura and Ino said when she was done talking.

"Yeah, then I had to leave Neji to go to the bathroom," Tenten said. "When I came back, he looked ambarrassed about something and left. To the bathroom, I think. _Everyone _had to go."

"Okay, too much info," Ino said.

"I know," Kiba said, entering the room. "Uh, what are we talking about?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you have to know, we were talking about Tenten's bladder issues," Sakura said.

"Ew, gross," he said.

"Hey, you asked. I just answered," Sakura said.

"Okay people, can we stop talking about my bladder?!" Tenten said. Chouji came in with Shino.

"You guys talk about the strangest things," Shino said, sitting down on one of the lounge chairs. Everybody tirned to look at him. It wasn't everyday that Shino spoke. "What?" he said.

"Um, oh, nothing," they all said.

RIIIING! RIIING!!

"I'll get that!" Ino said, grabbing the phone. "Hey Neji, what's up with you? I heard that you had some bla- umph!" Tenten had put her hand on Ino's mouth, giving her "the eye."

"Uh, I mean, why'd you call?" Ino said once Tenten removed her hand. Ino nodded her head a couple of times before hanging up. "Ooo Tenten, Neji wants to see you in his office. Pronto."

"Why?" Tenten asked.

"Don't know. He didn't say," Ino said. Tenten quickly left the room, heading towards Neji's office, one floor up. She knocked on his door, waiting for his response.

"Come in," Neji said. She opened the door and entered his office. He was standing up. It looked like he had been pacing back and forth. "Ah, Tenten, you're here."

"Yeah, you told me to come. Pronto," she said. "Is something wrong? Did the photographer not li-."

"No, no, nothing's wrong. The photographer loved you. He thought you were brilliant," Neji said, getting flustered. _'What the hell is wrong with me? I, Neji Hyuuga, do not get this easily flustered' _he thought. "I want to ask you something."

"Okay. Shoot," Tenten said, walking closer to him.

"Uh...earlier today I wanted to ask you if, um, if you would want to...um," Neji said. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "What I'm trying to say is that I want to take you out on a date."

"Can you say that again?" Tenten asked, not believing her ears. _'Did Neji just ask me out?'_

"I'm not going to repeat myself," he said.

"Well, how can I answer a question that I didn't hear?"

"Tenten...," Neji said, looking at her. "Will you go out on a date with me...please?" he added.

"Yes," she said smiling. Surprisingly, she didn't find this situation completely weird. The girly side of her was screaming in joy.

"Cool. I'll pick you up at seven on Friday," he said. That was in two days. Tenten had two days to pick out the perfect outfit.

"This is just like in all the telenovelas Toshi watches. You know, when the girl starts dating her boss and they have to keep their relationship a secret," Tenten said. Neji almost choked on his saliva.

"R-Relationship?! What relationship?" he asked. _'I am not a man of commitment' _Neji thought.

"I was just giving an example. Geez," Tenten said. Although, the thought of being in a relationship with Neji didn't sound too bad. He was handsome, smart, fun to tease, and he could be nice sometimes.

"Well, it was a bad example," Neji said, sitting down in his chair.

"Sooo...," Tenten said.

"Hn," he said.

"Yeah," she said, walking towards the door. She was about to leave when Neji's voice stopped her.

"Oh, and Tenten, you should wear something nice for Friday," Neji called out.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"It's a surprise," he said, smirking.

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"But what does that even mean? 'Wear something nice.' " Tenten said. She was in her room, talking on the phone with Ino.

"It means just that. Nice, as in pretty looking," Ino said. "Seriously Tenten, stop stressing. You have, like, two days until your date. That's enough time to find a nice outfit."

"I don't think I have anything that nice in my closet. What if we're going somewhere fancy?" Tenten said. She could hear Ino sigh on the other line. When Tenten first told Ino and Sakura about Neji asking her out, they were both surprised. But then they screamed in delight and jumped up and down.

"Ino, you still there?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah," she said. "You should wear that dress yuo bought when we went shopping laast weekend. It was so cute!"

"You meant that tiny black dress you and Sakura made me buy? Ino, I don't want to scare the guy!"

"What's so scary about that dress?" Ino asked.

"It's too revealing," Tenten said, sounding horrified. Ino started to laugh. "What? It's not funny!"

"Yes it is," Ino said. "I can't believe that you're scared to wear a sexy dress. Tenten, you've got to embrace your feminity."

"Huh?"

"Work with what you've got!" Ino said.

"I don't know if I can do that," Tenten said.

"Yes you can. Look, I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow," Ino said.

"Okay. Bye, " Tenten said.

"Bye," Ino replied, hanging up.

Tenten hung up as well. Lying on her bed, she stared at the ceiling. "Mm, what's that smell?" she said. The smell seemed to be coming from her kitcen, so she followed it. She saw Toshi in her kitchen, cooking sausages.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Toshi asked, looking up from the stove.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? I live here!" Tenten said. "What are you doing here?"

"Every so often I come here to check on this place, you know, see how it's going. And I also make sausages," Toshi said.

"Why can't you make sausages at your house?" Tenten asked.

"Because...I don't want my house smelling like sausages," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyways, I heard you had a photoshoot today. How'd it go?"

"How do you know about that?" Tenten said, eyeing her unopened mail that was sitting on her table.

"Your neighbors just love to gossip," he said. placing his cooked sausage on a plate. "They overheard you yelling this morning. People are so cranky at five in the morning, did you know that?"

"Yes," Tenten said, grabbing her mail and looking through it. "Toshi, why do I always get your mail? Can't you get your own P.O. box number?"

"No, I don't want the man to know where I live,"Toshi said, sitting next to her and eating his sausage.

"You mean the mailman?" Tenten asked.

"I mean any man," he said, throwing away his mail into the garbage can beside him. Tenten leaned down to pick some up.

"Umm...shouldn't you at least open these? They could be important. Really, really important," she said. She was anxious to see what they were about.

"No," Toshi said. Tenten opened one of them anyways.

"It's from the IRS. Why are you throwing this away?" she said.

"Because they're all jury duty stuff," he said.

"Oh-oh Toshi. They are auditing you," Tenten said, reading through the letter.

"How can they audit me if I haven't even filed for taxes?" Toshi said.

"Maybe that's why," Tenten said, not surprised at all. "Anyways, Neji asked me out!"

"You mean that blind guy?" Toshi asked.

"He's not blind!"

"Fine. You mean that guy with those funky eyes?" Toshi tried again.

"That's just the way they are," Tenten said. "Although I do find it weird myself. But his eyes are pretty."

"Tenten, here's a word of advice. Guys don't like their eyes referred to as pretty. It's this self-esteem issue you probably don't know about."

"Right," Tenten said absentmindedly. She was busy thinking about her date. _'I wonder what Neji has planned for us' _she thought.

"Tenten?" Toshi asked, waving his hand in front of her face. "Yoo-hoo. You there?"

"Huh?" she said.

"Whoa, you have the most spaced-out face I've ever seen," Toshi said. He burped, a sign of satisfaction.

"Eww, Toshi!" Tenten said.

"What? That was some good sausage."

"Toshi, if a guy tells you to wear something nice, what does he mean by that?" Tenten asked.

"Is this a trick question?" Toshi said.

"No. I'm just...I don't know why I'm so worried about my date with Neji. Maybe it's because all my dates end up bad."

"You're a complicated girl Tenten. Guys like that. It says you're mysterious and that scares them," Toshi said.

"Do I scare you?" Tenten asked, timidly.

"Yeah, you scare the crap out of me," he said, raising his hands for emphasize.

"Cool," Tenten said.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

DING DONG!

"I'm coming!" Tenten yelled. Tonight was the night of her date with Neji. She still didn't know where he was taking her and it bugged her. For the past two days she had been annoying Neji with questions. But he stood his ground. It was going to be a surprise. End of discussion.

Tenten opened the front door to her apartment, almost tripping on her own feet. Yes, she was wearing black heels. _'He better appreciate all that I did for him' _Tenten thought. She went to great lengths to make herself look "nice" for their date.

"Ah, Neji," Tenten said, seeing hims standing outside her doorway with a rather big bouquet of white roses. He was wearing black dress pants with a long-sleeved buttoned shirt (with a few of them unbuttoned) and a suede jacket.

"I got these for you," Neji said, handing her the bouquet.

"Thanks. I'll just put them in a vase.You can come inside," Tenten said as she went to the kitchen. Neji followed her. "They're so beautiful."

"I'm glad you like them," Neji said. Underneath the kitchen lights, he got a better look at Tenten. She was wearing a small black dress that ended around her mid-thigh, showing off her long legs. Her hair was down, pulled back in a half ponytail and her face had a small amount of make-up on.

Tenten turned around after putting the roses in a vase, bumping into Neji. "Ever heard of personal space?" she said with a smile.

"Yes. And you're in mine," Neji said, smirking.

"Oh, really?" Tenten said, stepping closer to him. With her heels on, they were almost the same height. The two stared at each other, trying not to blink. Tenten could feel the heat coming from Neji, his warm breath on her face. She took a step closer; it was all too much. "Um...let's go," she said.

"You might want to bring your jacket if you don't want to catch a cold. I doubt that dress will keep you warm," Neji said. _'Or maybe I could keep you warm...argh, how cliche does that sound?' _he thought.

Tenten walked to her coat closet and grabbed her black jacket, putting it on. She looked at Neji, who was already waiting for her by the door. He opened it and together they walked to Neji's car.

"So, now are you going to tell me where you're taking me?" Tenten asked once they were driving.

"No. You're just going to have to wait and see," Neji answered, keeping his lavender eyes on the road.

"Neji, you are so cruel. You know I am a _very_ impatient girl," Tenten said, pouting like a five year old. Neji took one quick glance at her and thought she looked inexcusably adorable at that moment.

_'I'm not really sure why I asked out Tenten but I'm glad I did. She'll make this night a whole lot more interesting than if I was spending it alone or with some other girl' _Neji thought. He parked into a dock where there was a lake.

"We're here," he announced, getting out of the car and walking to the passenger side, opening Tenten's door.

"Is this a lake?" she asked, confused. Neji offered her his arm and she took it, looking around. "Neji, what are we doing here?"

"Tenten, you talk too much. Just walk," he said, walking closer to the docks.

"I can't see that well. It's too dark. What if I trip and fall?"

"You won't. I'm holding on to you anyways," Neji said. They were there.

"Wow! N-Neji...is that a...a yacht?" Tenten said, smiling. "Oh my god! It's so huge!"

"Good evening Mr. Hyuuga," a man said, the steerer of the yacht. "Everything's ready for you and your date." With that he climbed into the boat.

"Come on Tenten," Neji said, loving the surprised look on Tenten's face. Her mouth was hanging slightly open and her eyes were full of amazement.

Once they were on the deck of the yacht, Neji took her to where there was a table for two, beneath the stars. There was a group of guys playing music on their violins. The table was laid with food and there were lit candles. To Tenten, the scene looked really romantic.

"Neji...," she whispered. She hadn't expected this. Everything was set up nicely. It was all too perfect.

"I'm starving. Let's eat," Neji said, grabbing Tenten's hand and pulling out her chair.

"Since when did you become a gentleman?" Tenten asked, sitting down and placing her napkin on her lap. Neji sat down on his own chair.

"What do you mean? I've always been a gentleman. You've just never noticed," he said.

"Right. Because you've always been a jackass as well," Tenten said with a smirk, signifying she was only joking. Neji pretended to look offended, placing a hand on his chest.

"Ouch. That was harsh," he said, cutting into his steak.

"That was the truth," Tenten said. "And I've always been an honest person." Even she had to laugh at that one herself, remembering the incident that happened a few days ago.

"Well Tenten, what do you think? You never told me. Do you like your surprise?" Neji asked.

"Oh, I love it! Thanks Neji, for bringing me here. It's so beautiful and I've never been on a yacht before," she said. "Whose yacht is is anyways?"

"It's mine," Neji said. "But I think you like it more than I do." He took a long sip out of his res wine. "I was thinking of selling it soon."

"Please don't!" Tenten exclaimed, surprising Neji. He looked at her, thinking.

"Fine, then I won't, if it means that much to you," he said. Neji didn't know it, but he had just shown an act of kindness to Tenten. It was a small gesture, but it still existed.

"Thank you," she said. The yacht meant something to her. It was now a part of her memory about her first date with Neji. "I'm hoping tonight goes well," Tenten said after a while.

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"You see, all my dates end up bad," she explained. "You will not believe who I went out with once. It was a blind date, but still...the guy was a convict."

"You went out with a convict?!" Neji said. "What happend? He didn't hurt you or anything?"

"No. I panicked though and I screamed," Tenten said, remembering. "The whole restaurant turned to look at me. Ah, I guess it was funny."

"You call that funny?" he said. "Tenten, you are so weird sometimes."

"You're supposed to say I look pretty tonight. I almost poked my eye out putting on eyeliner," she said.

"Tenten, you look pretty tonight," Neji said.

"Say it like you mean it," she said.

"You are the most beautiful star out here. Really, I mean it," he said in a serious tone. Tenten started to blush, trying to cover her cheeks. But Neji removed her hands from her face. "Don't. You look more beautiful when you blush." That just made her blush even more. She drank her wine, trying to cool down.

"Oh, now you choose to be romantic all of a sudden," she said, looking down at her lap.

"Does it bother you?" Neji asked. Tenten took a risk and looked up, seeing him smirk.

"N-No," she said. "It's just that..."

"What?"

"You're being so nice to me. No one's ever been this nice to me," Tenten said, smiling a bit. "It's just different, you know? But a good different. I like it. This nice side of you, I mean. Hahaha. Now I must sound like a rambling fool who doesn't even know what she's talking about. I don't even know what I'm talking about."

"I get it," Neji said, softly touching Tenten's hand. He stroked her knuckles with his thumb in a circular motion.

"You do?" Tenten asked. Her mixed emotions were confusing her. She needed someone to help her get through th confusion. _'I like Neji. I really do, but sometimes he can be such a jerk. And from what I can tell, he's probably slept with a lot of woman. Am I going to be just another name to check off on his list?'_

"Tenten, you're different tonight too. You're not as talkative as I thought you were going to be. I mean, you still talk way more that an average person should," Neji said, chuckling a bit. "I find it annoying sometimes, but that's what I like the most about you. I'm never quite alone when I'm with you or as silent."

Tenten let Neji still hold her hand. She liked how gentle his touch felt. For some reason, she always thought Neji's hand would be cold and rough. She was wrong.

While eating their dinner, they talked and laughed. Tenten was telling stories about her childhood at Tyzuka Inn, how she always got into shenanigans with her friends. Neji told her how boring and dull boarding school was. He didn't make many friends there, but her was the school prodigy. And that got him a lot of unwanted attention from fangirls and um...fanboys. Tenten's eye involuntary twitched at that part.

"Well, I was in my school's track team, volleyball team, and...oh yeah, basketball team as well," Tenten said. "How about you?"

"Well, I wasn't in any team. My uncle thought sports was a waste of time and that it would get my mind off my studies. But that doesn't mean I'm a bad athlete. I'm actually good at basketball," Neji said.

"Whoa, that sucks. Do you always listen to what your uncle says?" Tenten asked. Neji nodded his head.

"He is like a father to me. I would hate to disappoint him," he said.

"That's deep," Tenten said. "Seriously."

They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes, listening to the violinists play. After they were done eating, Neji cleared his throat. "Hey, Tenten. Do you want to walk around?" he asked.

"And explore the yacht? Hell yeah!" she said, getting up from her seat. She grabbed Neji's hand and dragged him out of his chair. They walked along the side of the railings, hands intertwined. Neji had never "just" held hands with a girl before. He usually took her to a fancy restaurant to eat and then to his bedroom. But with Tenten, it was different. She wasn't like the other skanky girls he went out with. No, she had standards and values.

"Neji, your hands are sweaty," Tenten stated, a laugh escaping her mouth.

"Sorry," he said, wiping his hands on his pants.

To break the awkwardness between them, Tenten smacked Neji on his stomach and said," Boom!"

"Ow!" Neji said as she laughed. He then smacked her back, only that he accidentally hit her chest.

"I said boom, not boob!" Tenten said.

"Well, I'm sorry!" Neji said, looking embarrassed. "Why'd you hit me anyways?"

"Oh, it's just a game that me and my nephew play," Tenten replied.

"You hit your nephew?!"

"No. I hit him playfully."

"You call that playfully? I almost got knocked down woman."

"Well, then you're jsust a big baby if you can't take a hit from a woman," Tenten said, sticking out her tongue. Neji didn't know what it was (maybe his bruised egp perhaps) but he didn't like Tenten sticking her tongue out at him. There was only one place her tongue was going to be.

In a spur of the moment, Neji held Tenten's face in his hands and pulled her face closer to his, their lips touching. He kissed her, feeling her wet tongue against his tongue. She was feeling this kiss as mush as he was. Tenten's body was leaning against the railing, Neji's body pressed in front of hers, feeling the muscles underneath his clothes. Tenten, teasing as ever, lightly bit Neji's tongue. Neji didn't care. He loved the way Tenten tasted. He wanted more. He kissed her hard, engulfing her, his hands circling her waist. Tenten got her hands on Neji's long hair, soft and smooth.

Needing oxygen, they broke apart, breathing heavily. Tenten put her fingers to her lips; they felt swollen from kissing too hard. Her cheeks were flushed as well. She didn't think she'd enjoy the kiss as mush as she did.

"Nej-." Before Tenten could say anything else, Neji grabbed her and kissed her again, more wild this time. A few minutes later, they stopped, staring at each other. Tenten smiled, pinching Neji's nose.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Why'd you kiss me?" she asked.

"..."

"Exactly," Tenten said. "You know Neji, it doesn't hurt to show your emotions and act human. You are human, or did you forget?"

"No, I didn't forget," he said. "You just reminded me a few hours ago."

Tenten looked at him. Really looked at him. She liked what she saw: a young man trying to break out of his cold exterior. Tenten kissed him on his cheek. Instinctively, Neji touched the spot where she kissed him. He smiled. And that was enough for Tenten.

"It's late. I should take you home," Neji said. She looked at him. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. I just thought that...you know...that you'd...," Tenten said, blushing. Neji caught on, feeling ashamed.

"No. I wasn't planning for that tonight. Not with you," he said, looking at his feet. Tenten didn't know if she should feel relieved or insulted. Was she not good enough for him? Yet again, she wasn't ready. She didn't _love _Neji. It was too soon for that.

"Come on, let's go. My feet are killing me. I blame you for the blisters I have now," Tenten said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: We promise that we will try to update soon. PLEASE REVIEW!!**


	7. Judgement Day

**A/N: Guess we didn't keep our promise of updating soon. sigh It's just kinda hard, well more like time-comsuming, juggling three stories at the same time. Not only that, but we're also busy writing a one-shot that we started a loooong time ago and this other story we have in mind. We have the plot thought up and the characters that are going to be in it. We really don't want to reveal anything at the moment now because who knows when we'll actually start writing that story. Maybe when ****A Broken Life**** is finished. Hmm... Anyways, here's chapter 7. It's super long 'cause we wanted to make up for the time it took us to finally update this story. Sit back, get some popcorn, and enjoy!**

**Chapter 7- Judgement Day**

Love really was in the air. Well, for Tenten and Neji at least. It had been two weeks since their first date and they were inseperable. Neji would call the intern "hotline" in a false pretense that he wanted coffee. Tenten dutifully brought it to his office, where she would jump on his lap and have a passionate make-out session. Lee walked in on them once and he almost fainted.

"Sooo...Neji," Sasuke said when he was in his office one day. They were previously talking about the success of the advertisement. "How are things going with you and Tenten?"

"Good," Neji replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," he said, leaning his head back on the chair in front of Neji's desk.

"Hn," Neji said, looking out his window at the birds flying in the sky.

"Actually, I do have one question," Sasuke said.

"What is it?"

"This whole thing with you and Tenten is so weird to me. She's different from all the other girls you've dated. Do you think she could possibly be the 'one?'" Sasuke asked.

Neji coughed, choking on his saliva. "Wh-What kind of question is that?" he said.

"Too soon, huh? I mean, you've only been dating for about a week and a half."

"Actually, it's been two weeks and four and a half days," Neji said, correcting him.

"Wow," Sasuke said, impressed.

"I know, it's the longest relationship I've ever had," Neji said.

"No, I meant wow, you're actually keeping count of how many weeks you've been going out. It's usually the girl who does that," Sasuke said. Neji glared at him. "I'm just saying."

"Well, if I were you, I wouldn't be saying anything. You don't even have a girlfriend. Are you even dating anyone?" Neji asked.

"Thank you for pointing that out to me," Sasuke said sarcastically. _'As if I didn't already know that myself. But seriously, what is wrong with me? When was the last time I went out on a date? Oh no! Am I becoming one of those people who spend Saturday night alone, watching T.V. and getting fat on ice cream?' _He subconsciously put a hand to his stomach and was relieved to still feel his abs. _'Thank God!'_

Neji looked at him weird. "Are you about to masterbate right in front of me? Oh hell no! Not in my office!" he said. Sasuke looked offended.

"No I wasn't!" Sasuke said. "Anyways, it's not me who will be masterbating."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Knowing the kind of person Tenten is, you won't be getting anything from her for a looong time," he said.

"So?" Neji said, trying to act like it didn't matter to him. "That kind of stuff isn't important to me."

"Oh really?" Sasuke said, interested. "Then in that case, prove it to me. I bet you can't last a whole month being celibate with Tenten."

"You're on," Neji said, meeting Sasuke's gaze. "But let's make it more difficult, eh?'

"You always did like a good challenge. Fine. If you last two months, you win the bet. But if you don't, you lose. Agreed?"

"Agreed," he said. "What are the stakes involved?"

"Hmm," Sasuke said, thinking. "If you lose, you have to chop off all your hair."

"What? Sasuke, let's be reasonable about this. Don't you think that's a little too cruel?" Neji said.

"No. I think it suits you. Or are you scared of losing?" Sasuke taunted him.

"Psh. Not at all," he said. "Okay, and if I win, you have to go out on a date with someone I've chosen. No questions asked."

"Alright. I can't really complain about that," Sasuke said. If he only knew who Neji had in mind to be his date.

Tenten was knocking on Toshi's apartment door. She needed a cup of milk (to make cookies for Neji) because she had ran out. "Yo Toshi, it's me Tenten! I know you're in there. I can hear your telenovela. Ohmygod! Alejandro cheated on Vanessa with her twin sister! I did not see that coming," Tenten said, her ear to the door.

Toshi got up from his couch and abruptly opened the door. Tenten was unaware of this and with her weight leaning on the door, she fell to the ground. "Tenten, are you okay?" Tohsi asked.

"Um..yeah, I'm just a klutz," she said, getting up. "I just cam- damn Toshi! You have a lot of spiderwebs!"

"Oh, I haven't removed them yet from Halloween. I was meaning to get to them, but you know how busy I can be," Toshi said.

"Halloween was three months ago," Tenten said. "You definitely need a wife to take care of you...and this apartment as well. You're not much of a cleaner are you?"

"Nope," he said.

"Were you ever married?" Tenten asked curiously. Toshi laughed.

"Marraige isn't really my kind of lifestyle."

"Oh. Do you have any kids?"

Toshi was silent for a while. "I used to have a little boy. He would be your age right now."

"What happened to him? Did he die?" Tenten said.

"No. He lives with his grandparents. They thought I wasn't fit to raise him," Toshi replied, sitting back down on his couch. "I guess it was for the best. I wasn't meant to be a dad."

"Toshi, that's so sad! A father and son should _never _be separated." Tenten said.

"What are you talking about? I visit my son on his birthday and other holidays," Toshi said.

"Oh. Then why did you make it sound so sad? I was _this _close to crying," Tenten said.

"I just said it like that for dramatic effect," Toshi said, back to his normal self. Tenten rolled her eyes.

"You've been watching way too many telenovelas. And here I was, thinking you were going to say that I was like the son you never had. Oh wait, that didn't come out right," she said. "Anyways, do you have any milk? I'm baking cookies for Neji."

"You can bake?" Toshi asked.

"Uh...I've never really tried it. But how hard can it be? Besides, I've seen my mom bake lots of times," Tenten said.

"So, how long have you and pretty boy been going out?"

"Two weeks and four and a half days," Tenten responded.

"That's really...specific," Toshi said.

"It just feels great to be in a relationship," Tenten said dreamily.

"Tenten, sorry to break it to you, but your relationship isn't going anywhere. I don't hear any wedding bells or cha-ching, cha-ching for you."

"It's only been two weeks and four-."

"-and a half days. Yeah, I get it," Toshi said. "But let me ask you this. Have you met his family yet?"

"I've met his cousin Hinata," Tenten answered.

"How about his parents?" Toshi asked.

"They died when he was young. But he did say that his uncle was like his father figure." Tenten said.

"And have you met his uncle?"

"No, not yet," she said, frowning.

"Why not?"

"I don't know."

"Okay. Well, the milk is in the fridge if you need it," Toshi said. Tenten slowly walked to his fridge and grabbed the milk.

"Thanks Toshi," she said before leaving.

"So Tenten, what do you have in that basket?" Sakura asked her. They were in the intern lounge, just hanging out.

"Cookies. They're for Neji," she said.

"Well, you better make sure Chouji doesn't see them or he'll eat them all," Sakura said. Tenten laughed.

"I'll just go to his office right now and give them to him. I hope he likes chocolate chip," Tenten said. "Bye."

"Yeah, bye!"

Tenten walked to one of the elevators and got in it. She pressed the button for the seventh floor and hummed to the elevator music. Then she walked to Neji's office and knocked on his door. "Come in," he said. She opened the door and stepped in.

"Good morning Neji!" Tenten said with a smile. "Guess what I made? Cookies! Why don't you try some? I spent two hours making them last night." She sat down on his lap and took out...what looked to be a deformed cookie. It was obviously not baked long enough and had chunks of eggshells in it.

"Umm...Tenten? How long did you bake the cookies for?" Neji asked, not wanting a bite of those monstrous-looking cookies.

"Bake? Oh, it would have taken _forever _if I baked them in an oven. I put them in the microwave instead," Tenten said. "Open up!"

Neji did _not _open his mouth like Tenten said to. There was no way in hell that he was going to eat one of tho-. "Mpmh," Neji said as Tenten shoved that horrid cookie (if you could call it that) into his mouth. It was crunchy because of the eggshells and mushy because it wasn't baked correctly. Not only that, but it tasted terrible! Neji felt like gagging. He gulped it down after a whole minute.

"Did you like it?" Tenten asked, not knowing of the horror she baked. She didn't even bother to taste them herself.

"Yes," Neji lied, not wanting to hurt Tenten's feelings by saying she should _never _bake cookies in her life. "It tasted unlike anything I've ever eaten before."

"Good, because I made two dozen," she said smiling. She placed the basket on his desk then wrapped her arms around his neck. "Now, some alone time..." Tenten moved her lips closer to Neji's, kissing him.

_'Might at well enjoy this since it's the only thing I'll be doing with her for a long time' _Neji thought as her kissed her. He made slow, sensuous circles with his hand on Tenten's bare thigh.

"Neji..." she said as she nuzzled his neck. She could smell the strong scent of his cologne. It was really intoxicating. Tenten sucked the skin at the nape of his neck, her hands clinging to his broad shoulders.

Neji hitched Tenten's skirt up, his hands relishing the touch of her smooth skin. He claimed Tenten's lips again and pressed her closer to him. Neji's hands were near his destination, but he pulled away from Tenten, remembering his stupid bet with Sasuke. He mentally groaned. This...what he was doing with Tenten, wasn't helping.

"What's wrong?" she asked, planting small kisses on his chin. He turned his head away from her tender lips.

"Tenten, stop that," Neji said unconvincingly. She smiled.

"Stop what?" Tenten said teasingly, kissing his adam's apple.

"Tenten, I mean it!" he said, not meaning to yell at her. It frightened her. She got off from his lap and stood up, fixing her skirt. She wasn't looking at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you," Neji said, trying to grab her hand.

"It's okay. I'll just leave you alone," Tenten said, starting to walk away.

"Tenten, wait! Don't be mad at me," he said.

"I'm not mad," she said, stopping. She turned around to face him. "Something is bothering you. I know it. What is it? Maybe I can help."

_'No, you can't help Tenten. In fact, you're just making it worse Why do you have to be so goddamn pretty?' _Neji thought. _'And I am such an idiot for agreeing to that bet. Two months with no sex? How the hell am I going to do that? Yes, I really am an idiot. And soon (in two months time) I'll probably be an idiot with short hair if I don't win this bet. I wonder, if I cut my hair will it stick up like a chicken's butt, just like Sasuke's? Hmm? I hope not. I would look less attractive.'_

"Tenten, to be honest," Neji said," I'm just really stressed today. And when I get stressed I act like-."

"A jerk?" Tenten suggested. Neji smiled a little.

"Yes. I act like a jerk. Forgive me?" he asked. Tenten put a hand to her cheek, looking deep in thought.

"You're forgiven," she said, walking towards him and giving him a quick peck on his mouth. "I gotta go now. I'll see you later." And she left. Neji wondered how he was going to survive the next two months.

"Ohmigod! Girls, look at this!" Ino said. She was flipping through a fashion magazine.

"What? What is it?" Tenten asked.

"It better be interesting," Sakura said.

"It is! Look, it's the ad you did Tenten," Ino said, pointing to the page.

"Oh my, it is! Cool!" Sakura said excitedly.

"Can you three keep it down? I'm on a very important phone call," Kiba said, on his cellphone.

"Who cares? I, Tenten Tyzuka, am on a magazine page! Ohmigod, I'm like...famous!" Tenten said, grabbing the magazine from Ino's hands. "How many people do you think are seeing this ad right now? Eeeekk!" she squeaked.

"Calm down Tenten," Chouji said. "It's just an ad."

"Just an ad? It's a nationwide ad. Millions of people are seeing it," Sakura said.

"Yeah, what Sakura said," Tenten replied.

"This is so awesome! We have to celebrate. Tonight. Who feels like partying at a club?" Ino said.

"Let's all go!" Tenten said. "I'll ask Neji and the other guys it they want to come too."

"It's going to be so much fun. And to think that you, Ino, came up with it," Sakura said.

"They don't call me a party girl for nothing," Ino said with a smile.

"I bet you dance on table tops, don't you?" Kiba asked.

"Who told you?" she said, faking to be surprised.

"Shino, are you coming too?" Tenten asked him. He stayed silent, but nodded his head yes.

"Alright, the whole gang is coming," Chouji said.

"Well, we still haven't called Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto. Hey, you think Hinata will want to come as well?" Sakura said.

"I hope so," Kiba said.

"Kiba, whatever you are thinking, don't. Hinata and Naruto are going to end up together, forever. And forever is a looong time," Tenten said.

"Way to ruin a guy's dream," he said.

"Impossible dream, more like it. It was painfully obvious you and Hinata were never going to have a future together. Does she even know your name?" Chouji said.

"Yes...I think," Kiba said uncertainingly. "Oh, who cares? There'll be hot chicks at the club who _don't _have boyfriends. Yes, it's good to be single." Tenten had to silently disagree.

"Hey, you guys know of any cool clubs around here?" Ino asked.

"Sure," Kiba said. "There's this one club..."

**Later that night (11 p.m.)**

"Excuse me, do you know who I am? I'm Tenten Tyzuka."

"Who?" the guy at the door said. He was tall and gruff-looking.

"You know, the beautiful model from the perfume ad," Tenten said. "_Shine like a star tonight. _Does that mean anything to you?"

"No. Now get in the back of the line with your friends Blondie and Pinkie."

"But-."

"Wait, I'm Paris Hilton!" Ino said as a last resort. Kiba, Chouji, and Shino smacked their heads with their hands. It was hopeless.

"Nice try. She arrived here earlier," the guy said.

"No way!" Ino said.

Just then Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto (along with Hinata) arrived. "Hey Neji, what took you so long? We've been waiting for you all to show up," Tenten said.

"Ah, Mr. Hyuuga!" the guy said, lifting the red rope so they could enter. "Come in."

"Thanks J, they're with me," Neji said, holding Tenten's hand. As she walked past J, Tenten stuck out her tongue at him before entering. The music was blaring loudly. It was so wild and chaotic inside. Everyone followed Neji to a V.I.P. room where there was a mini bar.

"Congrats Tenten, on the ad. I saw it and you looked so amazing," Hinata said.

"Thanks. I really have to thank Daisuke, who did my make-up," she said.

"Neji, I did the math and Hyuuga Interprise is going to receive about 240,000,000 in sales, maybe more," Shikamaru said. Neji looked impressed.

"Wow! That's a lot of money," Tenten said.

"Well, it is a worldwide ad," Shikamaru said.

"And Tenten, you will receive your check in the mail soon. I think it's about 6000," Neji said.

"So go ahead and splurge it on sexy lingerie for you and Neji," Sasuke said. Tenten started to blush.

"Or, she could save it in the bank. That's the reasonable thing to do," Neji said, glaring at Sasuke. _'He is not going to make this easy on me. This is just great.'_

"Um, I think I'll save the money, like Neji suggested. Where's Ino and Sakura?" Tenten said.

"They went downstairs to dance and meet cute guys," Hinata said.

"We should go with them," Tenten said, yanking Hinata away from Naruto and leaving.

"What the hell was that all about?" Kiba asked Neji and Sasuke. They were silent.

"Does anyone care to explain?" Naruto said, drinking tequilla.

"It's nothing," Sasuke said. "I was just teasing Neji and his...and Tenten." He was about to say girlfriend, but then realized that Neji _still _hadn't asked Tenten to be his girlfriend and he knew why. Neji was definitely not a man of commitment.

"Well, it was a very bad joke Sasuke," Neji said. "Not only that, but you embarrassed Tenten as well. No wonder she left in a hurry."

"We better go with them," Naruto said.

"Why?" Shikamaru asked.

"Didn't you hear? Hinata said they're dancing and meeting cute guys," Naruto said, already walking towards the door. "That is so not going to happen."

The guys left the V.I.P. room and went downstairs to the over-crowded club dancefloor. The DJ was playing rap music and the multi-colored lights flashing made it hard to find the girls. After five minutes of searching (and being butt groped by girl along the way) they finally found them. The four of them were dancing wildly and having a great time. They were also oblivious to the stares they were receiving from guys.

"Hey cutie, what's your name?" a guy asked Tenten.

"She's not interested," Neji said, grabbing Tenten's hand and dragging her away from the guy.

"Hey Neji," she said. Her face was flushed from dancing.

"Tenten, you better watch out for some of these guys. You can't trust them," Neji said, placing his hands around her slim waist. Tenten raised an eyebrow at the last comment.

"Someone's jealous," she said in a sing-song voice. Then she laughed as she started to dance again. Really, all she wanted to do was have a good time. "Come on Neji, loosen up! Don't make me dance all by myself and look like an idiot."

Neji smirked as he moved closer to Tenten and started dancing with her. They moved in time to the beat, Tenten's hips swaying against Neji's. Turning around, she bent down and touched her knees, getting lower and lower. Her butt brushed up against Neji's manlihood, unaware of what she was doing to him (of what she was making him feel).

They danced for eight songs until they stopped to get drinks. It was stifling hot in the dancefloor because there was no air conditioning and everyone was pressed up close together.

"Two drinks please," Neji said to the bartender. The music was loud so he had to shout a bit to make himself heard. The bartender served them two alcoholic beverages. Tenten grabbed her glass and took a long sip.

"Ah, I needed that," she said, fanning herself with her left hand. She wiped her forehead which was wet with persperation.

Neji embraced Tenten, kissing her collarbone. "Ew Tenten, you stink," he said teasingly. She smacked him on the head. "Babe, I was only joking. You were suppose to laugh."

"You _never _joke about a girl's odor," Tenten said, finishing off her drink. "C'mon, let's dance again." Neji followed her to a spot on the dancefloor.

"Tenten! There you are!" Ino yelled. Sakura was with her. "We gotta go! It's 3 a.m. and we have work tomorrow."

"Screw work! I'm still dancing with Neji and I'm not done celebrating," Tenten said.

"Tenten...," Neji said in her ear, "as your boss I order you to go home and get some sleep. If you don't, you'll regret it."

"B-But...I wanna stay with you," she said.

"No, you can't," Neji said, remembering the bet. The stupid, idiotic bet.

"You heard him, let's go!" Sakura said, pulling Tenten's arm.

"Help! I'm being abducted!" Tenten shouted. "Who knows what she will do to me!"

"I'll make you wear heels for six hours non-stop!" Sakura said.

"Oh, the horror!" Tenten said. Ino and Neji were trying not to laugh.

"Well bye Neji, I gotta grab Tenten's other arm," Ino said, doing just that.

"Wait, Tenten!" Neji yelled. Tenten turned her head to look at him. He was a few feet away from her. Neji opened his mouth to say something, but she couldn't quite hear him.

"What?!" Tenten said, but he was already lost within the crowd. _'It sounded like maybe he said I love you' _she thought. _'I didn't hear what Neji said, but his lip movements looked like it could be.'_

Once the "Troublesome Trio" were outside the club, they waited for a taxi. "To be honest, I was getting kinda tired," Ino said, yawning.

"That's a first," Sakura said.

"The one guy I wanted to dance with didn't even dance with me," Ino said.

"Hmm, let me guess...Shikamaru?" she said. Ino nodded her head, then looked at the silent girl standing next to her.

"Tenten, why are you so quiet?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, you usually can't shut up for ten seconds," Sakura stated. "Is something wrong?"

"I think Neji might've said I love you," Tenten said. Ino and Sakura looked at each other in surprise. They found it hard to believe.

"Are you sure he said that?" Sakura asked. Tenten sighed loudly.

"I don't know. He could've said anything," she replied.

_"I went to the zoo!"_

_"I blame you!"_

_"I love to moo!"_

_"I'm using you!"_

"Oh, you forgot the most obvious ones," Ino said.

_"I love Blue's Clues!"_

_"I'm Lucy Lui!"_

Ino and Sakura cracked up with laughter as Tenten rolled her eyes at them. "Guys, be serious," she said.

"We are," Ino said, calming down.

"You know what Tenten, you worry too much," Sakura said. "Oh, here comes a taxi!" She stuck her arm out, bringing the taxi to a stop. Tenten and Sakura sat in the back while Ino (who saw that the driver looked cute) sat next to him. He had short red hair, green eyes, a tattoo on his forehead and...he had no eyebrows whatsoever.

"Where to ladies?" he said with a flirtacious smile. Tenten told him her address. "Hey, where have I seen you? Oh wait, you're that one girl from the perfume ad, right?"

"Yeah. You saw me?" Tenten said excitedly. _'I can't believe it...a fan! He probably wants an autograph. Hmm, do I have a pen in my purse? Sakura probably has one.'_

"Yes, and I've got to say, you look waaay hotter in person," the taxi driver said, changing lanes.

"Thanks, but I'm seeing someone at the moment," Tenten replied.

"A boyfriend?"

"Wellm not exactly," Tenten said, frowning a bit. "Actually, we've only been dating for a couple of weeks. Two weeks and five days to be exact."

"Tenten, is it?" the guy asked. She nodded her head yes. "I'm just curious, but who are you dating?"

"Neji Hyuuga," Tenten said proudly.

"Of the Hyuuga Interprise? That Neji?"

"Yeah. Why, do you know him or something?"

"No, but...you're dating him? Wow. I'm surprised the papers haven't said anything. The papparazzi like to follow the Hyuuga's, when a celebrity isn't flashihng anyone."

"Really? I haven't seen any papparazzi following Neji," Tenten said.

"Not yet. But they will," he said.

"How do you know all this?" Sakura asked.

"When you've lived in this city your whole life, it's kinds obvious who the papparazzi are after," the guy said.

"That is so cool! Imagine Tenten being photographed with Neji in a gossip magazine," Ino said.

"Well, I'm here," he said. Tenten paid him and got out of the taxi.

"Bye girls! See you tomorrow," she said, waving goodbye.

"Last night was so much fun," Ino said.

"Yeah, too bad it was cut too short," Tenten said, pouring coffee into Neji's favorite mug. In fact, she needed some coffee herself to barely stay awake. She only got a few hours of sleep. "Um, Ino, shouldn't you be organizing those files?"

"Oh shit! I totally forgot about it," Ino said, walking over to the stack of folders Naruto assigned her to organize.

"Don't stress about it. Naruto will probably mess them up again since he's so disorganized," Kiba said.

"I'm still doing them," Ino said.

"Well, see ya," Tenten said, holding a mug in each hand. She thought Neji and her both deserved a coffee break together.

Tenten couldn't really knock on Neji's door, so she kicjed on it. "Who the hell is kicking on my door?!" Neji yelled, opening it and seeing Tenten. "Oh, hello Tenten. I didn't ask for coffee," he said as she squeezed past him and walked into his office.

"I think you did," Tenten said, sitting on Neji's black leather couch. She placed Neji's mug on the nearby coffee table. He walked up to her, still standing. "Come and sit next to me," Tenten said, patting the area on the couch next to her. Neji saw no harm in that and sat down. He picked up his cup and took a sip out of it, watching Tenten out of the corner of his eye. She was staring at him intently.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" he asked.

"No," Tenten answered, continuing to stare.

"It's my hair isn't it? You're trying to picture it looking like a chicken's butt, but it'll look so bad you'll hate it," Neji rambled. Tenten blinked.

"What are you talking about?" she said.

"Uh...nothing."

"Neji, last night at the club, you said something _really _important. Would you mind saying it again so I can hear it?" Tenten said.

"Ok, now what are _you _talking about?"

"You know, those three words every girl wants to hear," Tenten said.

"You look beautiful?" Neji guessed.

"No," she said. "Neji, you are so clueless!"

"What? I thought girls liked hearing that," Neji said.

"Neji, last night when I left and you said...you know...," Tenten said.

"No, I don't know," he said. "Be more specific."

"Neji! Sakura and Ino dragged me away and then you said those three magical words."

"Bye, see you," Neji said.

"What?! That's what you said?" Tenten asked.

"Well, yeah. You were leaving and I wasn't sure if you heard me," Neji said. "Obviously you didn't."

"I feel so stupid!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Why?"

"No reason," Tenten lied, not wanting to embarass herself by telling Neji the real reason. Instead she drank her coffee.

"Um...Neji...," Tenten said after a while.

"Hn?"

"What am I to you?'

"What do you mean?"

"Well we've been going out for a couple of weeks now-"

"Two weeks and five days."

"Oh, you keep count too?"

"Yeah," Neji said. "Sasuke thought it was weird and-"

"It kinda is," Tenten said.

"I'm just kidding. I think it's sweet. But back to my question."

"What do you want me to say?'' Neji said. "I'm not very good at saying how I feel. You know that."

"You're great at saying how you feel about me. You just don't like saying it," Tenten said. "Sometimes I feel like I have to man up and ask the damn question myself."

"What question?" Neji asked, although he had a vague idea of what it was. He gulped.

"Neji, do you want to be my boyfriend?" Tenten asked him. There. She said it. It was out of her system. Now, his answer. Yes? No?

"Tenten," he said, looking at her. He grabbed a hold of both her shoulders. "I don't commit myself to people because it means that I've somehow become dependent of that one person. But I really like you ... a lot, actually. So, I'm willing to try out this whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing."

This brought a smile (a very huge smile) to Tenten's face. She hugged Neji tightly, engulfing him with kisses. Neji chuckled, happy that he made Tenten happy. He liked that feeling.

"I can't believe you actually saved the money. Tenten, what is wrong with you? You could've gone on a shopping spree!" Ino said. She and Sakura were at Tenten's place, watching T.V. and pigging out on junk food.

"And would that have been the smartest thing to do? I don't think so," Sakura said. "So Tenten, how are things with you and loverboy?"

"We've been a couple for officially four days now," Tenten said, eating some chips. "Things haven't really changed between us, but it's cool saying Neji is mt boyfriend."

"It's not like he's your first boyfriend, geez," Ino said, then looked at her. "Oh my god, he is!" Tenten started to blush.

"But you're eighteen! You must have had at lea-," Sakura said.

"No, I haven't," Tenten said, cutting her off. "I've had stupid junior high boyfriends, you know, the ones that only last a few days. But nothing like this."

"Wow," Ino said. "I've had a boyfriend since I was like seven."

KNOCK-KNOCK!

"I'll get it," Tenten said, standing up and opening the door. Toshi. "Hey, what do you need?"

"Tenten, why do you always think I need something?" he said.

"Because you always do," Tenten said.

"Well, actually, I do have a favor to ask," Toshi said, stepping in. "Oh good, Ino and Sakura are here. They can help too."

"With what?" Sakura said, hearing her name mentioned.

"Well, I have this friend Chubby Cobi and-."

"What kind of name is Chubby Cobi? I would die if my parents gave me a name like that," Tenten said.

"Now, back to what I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," Toshi said. "My friend Chubby Cobi, who if you looked at him would clearly understand why we all call him that, has a job doing _strange _things in which you will never be able to comprehend."

"And what job is that?" Ino asked.

"I can't say," Toshi said, rubbing his goatee. "But I will tell you this. I need for you three to drop off a car at a specific vacant lot. Later, Chubby Cobi's guys will pick it up. You gotta wait for them to come."

"Toshi, why do we gotta do it?" Tenten asked.

"Because I have another errand to do," he said, looking at his expensive watch. "I shouldn't even be here. Anyways, here's the keys and an address to the place. The car is parked outside on the sidewalk. Bye." And without another word, Toshi left, putting on his dark sunglasses.

"Okay, what was that all about?" Ino asked.

"I don't know, but I think we have to deliver a car," Tenten said, holding the keys and a peice of paper with two addresses written on it. One was the lot and the other was Chubby Cobi's office, in case of an emergency, it read.

"Might as well. It's not like we have anything better to do," Sakura said. The three of them went outside where they saw an expensive sports car.

"Whoa!" they said in unison.

"I get to drive!" Tenten said.

"What? Why?" Ino asked.

"Cuz I have the keys."

"I call shotgun!" Sakura declared, already making her way to the passenger seat.

"No fair," Ino said as she sat in the back.

"Let's see what this baby can do," Tenten said, turning on the engine and putting it in the first gear. The car roared with life as Tenten drove. "This is what I'm talking about!" She turned on the radio.

"This car is getting us so much attention," Sakura said, rolling her window down and smiling at some guys who were looking at the car.

After a few minutes, Ino could've sworn she heard a soft bump coming from somewhere within the car. She shook it off, but then she heard it again. "Did you guys hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" Tenten asked.

"That thumping noise," Ino said.

"No. You must have imagined it," Sakura said, changing radio stations.

"Yeah, I must have," Ino said uncertainingly, resting her head back on her seat. She wasn't going to worry about it.

Bump.

"It sounded like a dead body!" she exclaimed.

"Ino, you okay?" Tenten asked.

"I heard it again!" she said. "I think it's coming from the trunk!"

"Ino, calm down," Tenten said.

"Turn the music off!"

"Wha-."

"Turn it off and you'll hear it too!"

Tenten sighed as she turned the radio off. She kept driving, waiting to hear the noise Ino was babbling about.

Bump.

"There! You guys heard it too!"

"Yeah, we heard it. But it's not a dead body," Sakura said.

"I'm not crazy!" Ino exclaimed.

"No one said you were," Tenten said.

"There must be something in there that 'they' don't want us to know," Ino said.

"They? Who's they? What are you talking about?" Sakura said.

"The mob of course!"

"Ino, nobody is in the mob," Sakura replied.

"Oh yeah, then where did Toshi get this car? And that expensive watch? Hmm, you tell me," she said.

"You know what, I've been wondering that too," Tenten said.

"Do I have to repeat myself? There is no mob!" Sakura said.

"This lot sure is empty," Tenten said as she drove there. She parked the car and looked around. The apartements seemed to be unoccupied.

"I don't like this," Ino whispered. Tenten and Sakura both rolled their eyes.

"So, how do you think this is going down?" Tenten asked as they waited for Chubby Cobi's guys to show.

"There are numerous scenarios of how this could be going down. Several of them includes us getting killed," Ino said.

"Ino, don't say that! We are _not _going to die," Sakura said. "Why would we get killed anyways?"

"Beacause we know too much."

"We don't know anything."

"But they don't know that we don't know anything. They might think that we know something," Ino said.

"You just confused me even more," Tenten said. "Have you been watching way too many horror movies? Because if you have, let me remind you that the good guys, or good girls in this case, don't die. How else could they make it to the sequel?"

"Check the trunk!" Ino said. "There's _always_ something in the trunk, like a dead body."

"No! I'm not giving in to your paranoia."

"C'mon Tenten! Open the trunk."

"What did I just say? No! Now, we're just going to wait here until some people arrive to take this car away. Got it?" Tenten said.

"That's right Tenten!" Sakura said. "We are just going to wait here like the sane people that we are."

Five minutes later...

"Maybe we should just take a small peek inside the trunk," Tenten said.

"Y-Yeah, to see if there's anything in there," Sakura said. She was curious.

"Right. A dead body can leave behind a rotten smell. We'll actually be helping Chubby Cobi by doing this," Tenten said.

"Oh, now you want to open the trunk," Ino said. The three of them stepped outside and walked over to the trunk of the car.

"I'll open it," Tenten offered. She lifted the trunk open, revealing...

"Volleyballs?!" they said at the same time.

"You've got to be kidding me," Ino said. "There's nothing in there but stupid volleyballs."

"That's what they want us to think," Tenten said. She walked over to the passenger side of the car and opened the glove compartment. It was empty except for an old tube of lipstick. Sakura looked under the back seats, but she spotted nothing. Ino looked under the hood, taking some stuff out. Fifteen minutes later they somehow ended up stripping the car. Some doors were taken out and the back seats were laying on the ground.

"What ever they hid, they're good," Tenten said.

"Umm...guys? I think we went too far," Sakura said, noticing the stereo she had in her hands. In the distance, they could hear the faint sound of sirens.

"Oh shit! The fuzz is after us!" Ino said, dropping the rearview mirror she had and running to the car. Tenten quickly started the car and drove. Sakura was in the back (with no seats), crouching down.

"Wh-Where do I go?" Tenten asked, panicking.

"I don't know! What about that one place? It said to go there in case of an emergency. I think this is an emergency!" Sakura wailed.

"Shit! Shit!" Ino swore, grabbing her handy dadny chocolate bar from her purse. Food was great during a situation like this. It soothed her nerves somehow.

"I don't get it. Why would the police be here?" Tenten asked.

"Because of the mob! They know we're connected to them. Oh no! I do not look good in stripes!" Sakura said.

"But I thought you said there was no mob," Tenten said.

"Oh, we're dead! We're dead! Shit!" Ino said.

"Who cares what I said? The police almost caught us," Sakura said. "Do you think they're still following us?"

"No, I don't think so," Tenten said. "Ino, stop eating like that! You act like you've been deprived of food for two weeks."

"Sorry," Ino said, finishing her chocolate. "I just...shit!"

"What?" Tenten and Sakura said.

"That was my last one," Ino said, searching in her small purse. Tenten and Sakura actually laughed, their nerves calming down. A few minutes later they arrived outside a building in which on the door it read COBI SAKAGUCHI- INVESTMENT BUSINESS.

"That's the job he has? The one Toshi didn't want to tell us because it was too strange?" Sakura said.

"Well, we don't know what he invests in. It might be strange," Tenten said in conclusion. "C'mon, let's just go in. the sooner we do this, the sooner it's all over with." They all three stepped out of the now ugly-looking car.

"How are we going to explain to Chubby Cobi that we totally messed up his car?" Ino said as they walked to the door.

"Good question," Tenten said, slowing down.

"Please don't tell me we're going to lie! You know I'm not a good liar. Remember what happened last time?" Sakura said.

"Do you want us to die? You know how pissed off people in the mob can be. I'm sorry, but we have no other option," Ino said, opening the door to Chubby Cobi's office. They saw mean-looking, agressive men smoking cigars and playing poker. They looked at the girls, their facial expressions not changing.

"Umm...W-We'll just go n-now. Right Ino? Sakura? Girls?" Tenten said. Too late. They had already left. Tenten ran for it and went to the car, turning on the ignition.

"Go! Go! Go!" Sakura said.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Tenten said, hitting something. "What the hell was that?!" She had pressed on the brakes fast.

"I think it was a cat," Sakura said, looking out her window. "Ah, you clipped someone's cat!"

"Ino, pick it up and get in!" Tenten said.

"Why me?" she said, already outside.

"Because you're closest. Quick!"

Ino grabbed the injured cat and got back in the car. As soon as she did, Tenten stepped on the gas pedal. "Ahh! Damn cat, he's digging his claws into my chest," Ino said.

"Is that a collat? What's his name?" Sakura said from the back.

"Hello? Didn't you hear what I said? I'm in physical pain!" Ino said.

"You know, he's actually a pretty kitty," Sakura said, coming from behind Ino to stroke the cat's soft, grayish fur.

"You can have him. He's all yours," Ino said, handing the small cat to Sakura. She grabbed him and started to pet him.

"Sakura, I wouldn't bond with him if I were you. We're going to the vet to get him fixed and we'll probably just leave him there," Tenten said as she drove.

"But Mr.Cittens belongs to someone," Sakura said, reading his collar.

"Who names their cat Mr.Kittens?" Tenten asked.

"No. Mr.Cittens, with a C."

"Oh, like that makes a difference," Ino said, looking at the cat (who was glaring at Ino with its yellow eyes). "I swear, that cat hates me."

"Can you believe it costs 300 to fix a cat's leg?" Tenten said once they were back at her apartment.

"What a rip-off!" Ino said. She was in a particular foul mood because it was mostly her money (her shopping money) that was used to pay the vet bill. "Don't cats have like nine lives anyways? He could have come back to life or something if he, you know, had died."

"Don't worry Mr.Cittens, Ino didn't mean it," Sakura said, talking to him in a voice a mom would use on her baby.

"We don't even know who Mr.Cittens belongs to. What if his owner charges us with catnapping?" Tenten asked.

"Yo Tenten! How'd it go with the car?" Toshi asked.

"T-Toshi! Hi! H-How'd you get in here?" she said nervously.

"I used the front door," he said, like it was obvious. "Hey, cute cat. Wait a minute...is that Mr.Cittens?"

"Maybe," Tenten said slowly.

"You were the guys who ran over Chubby Cobi's cat?" Toshi asked, surprised.

"Mr.Cittens is Chubby Cobi's cat?" Sakura said, holding the cat in her arms.

"Yeah. Cobi never was creative with names," Toshi said. "Oh shit, you better make sure he doesn't find out. Chubby Cobi is way protective of his cat, it's kinda scary. No one messes with Mr.Cittens and gets away with it. One time, some guy 'accidentally' stepped on the cat's litter box and wasn't able to use his left arm for a whole week. That's why I try to avoid Mr.Cittens," Toshi explained.

"Girls, I don't think we're going to make it to the sequel," Tenten said in defeat.

"Tenten, what are you talking about? What sequel? Hey, are we in a movie. Cool. Where's the cameras?" Toshi said, looking around the living room.

"Toshi, there is no movie," Ino said. "I knew that cat was bad luck."

"You never did tell me how it went with the car," Toshi said. "Did Cobi's guys pick it up alright? I've got to admit, it's one sweet ride."

"Well, not anymore," Sakura said.

Hm?"

**Five minutes later- outside apartment complex**

"What happened to the car?" Toshi asked in disbelief as he saw the ruined sports car.

"Um...you see, there was an accident," Tenten said.

"There was an accident inside the car?" Toshi said.

"Toshi, I'm sorry! I lost my mind," Tenten said.

"Yeah, we all did," Ino said.

"You shouldn't have trusted us with such a big favor. We were bound to mess things up," Sakura said.

"Meow," Mr.Cittens said quietly.

"It's okay," Toshi said. He always took serious things lightly. "We'll just lie to Chubby Cobi or something. The guy's a total idiot." The four of them walked back up to Tenten's apartment.

"So you're not mad?" Tenten asked.

"Nah. It wasn't my car."

"Then whose car was it?" Sakura asked.

"Cobi's, of course. Although I don't think he'd fit in the driver's seat," Toshi said. "He had it imported from some foreign country and asked if I could pick it up from the boat it was shipped in and take it to him, but I was-."

"Too busy," Tenten finished for him. Just then Tohsi's cell phone rang.

"Excuse me ladies," he said as her took the call.

"Well, I think this turned out okay," Ino said. "We're not in trouble and nobody got hurt."

"Except for Mr.Cittens," Sakura added.

"Would you stop that already. Mr.Cittens is going back to his owner and you;ll never see him again," Ino said. Tenten just looked at the two, amazed they were best friends at all.

"Bye," Toshi said, hanging up. "Girls, it's Judgement Day."

"WHAT?!" the three of them said in unison.

"Yeah. Cobi's guys are good at locating people. Turns out he's mad and he's sending his big guys to get you. If I were you, I'd run for it," Toshi said.

"Let's go out through the fire escape," Ino suggested.

"Oh, good idea," Sakura said.

"No, we are not running away like a bunch of cowards," Tenten said.

"But we're so good at doing that," Sakura said. Ino nodded her head, agreeing with her.

"Wait, wait. I think I can help you girls out. Man, there's gonna be some blood between me and Chubby Cobi," Toshi said.

"Bad blood, good blood, who cares? All I know is that if you don't help us now, there's going to be some blood. Comprende?" Tenten said.

"Si, I mean, yes," Toshi said. "Okay, here's my plan. Since Cobi's guys saw you driving away with the ruined sports car- did you really have to strip it and ruin such a beautiful car?"

"Toshi!"

"Right, back to my plan. Since they saw you, they immediately suspect it was your fault that it looked like that, although technically it is."

"HEY!"

"You know it's true. Anyway, I'll explain to Chubby Cobi that the car arrived that way. I'll say that I still wanted to take it to him because I promised him I would, although I sent you three because I was extremely busy," Toshi said. "Brilliant, eh?

"I could have come up with that," Tenten said.

"But you didn't," Toshi pointed out.

"So can you explain to us what the mob invests in?" Ino asked curiously.

"Mob? What mob? There is no mob," Toshi said. Then he laughed. "You thought Cobi was in the mob? Hahaha!"

"It wasn't funny to us when the police was after us," Tenten said, not appreciating that Toshi was laughing at them.

"Yeah, explain that Mr. I 've got a plan," Ino said.

"What's to explain? Obviously, the police went after you. I mean, you _were_ stripping a car in an empty lot. Of course it was going to look suspicious," he said.

"We seriously got to learn to not overexaggerate on things," Sakura said.

"Oh yeah," Tenten said, then just like Toshi, she laughed.

"It's not funny!" Ino said.

"Yes it is.We are such idiots sometimes," she said, still laughing.

"No!" Neji said, surprised. "And then what happened?" He was very interested to know how Tenten's little "adventure" ended.

"Well, these big guys dressed all in black clothes came here in my apartment. Let me tell you, they were really buff and tall. They had to duck down a bit to walk in through my door," Tenten said, snuggling even closer to Neji. They were sitting on her couch, watching nighttime game shows. "Toshi didn't look intimidated when he talked to them, but once they left, he admitted that he almost wet his pants."

Neji laughed at that part, like he had before during other previous parts of story. "You just love to cause trouble don't you?" he said with a smile.

"What can I say? Trouble seems to follow me wherever I go," Tenten said, resting her head on Neji's shoulder. She was sitting on his lap, her legs lying on the couch.

"Then I should be careful around you," Neji said teasingly. "Who knows? Maybe next week I'll wake up to pigs in my room, destroying everything."

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea," Tenten said. Neji tickled her stomach and she burst into a fit of giggles.

"Now I know your weak spot," he said, looking down at her.

"Everyone's ticklish there," Tenten said.

"What ar- ha ha ha," Neji laughed as Tenten tickled his stomach. Soon it became a game of who could make each other laugh more as they wrestled each other to the floor. Tenten was laughing so hard tears came out of her eyes and when Neji stopped, her breath was uneven.

"You won," she said as Neji stood up. Tenten still laid on the floor, staring at Neji and wondering how on earth she could've managed to catch him. They were from two different worlds and yet he chose her.

"Come on, put on your shoes. I'm taking you out to ice cream," Neji said, pulling her up.

"Okay," she said smiling. All she knew was that she was happy just being with him.

**A/N: Well, there you have it, the seventh chapter. It took us a long time to finish it and we think the ending is kinda cute. Hopefully the eighth chapter won't take a long time to write. We REALLY want to try to update this story next month. **

**Happy late Easter!! **


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